In an interview this week. Dr. Garth Graham, Head of YouTube Health, shared a few strategies that he uses at home with his four kids to develop healthy habits around screen time and screen use.
Dr. Graham advocates for co-creating a family media plan with your kids including a contract that sets out screen time rules.
The co-creation part is key: discussing with your kids how much screen time makes sense, as well as when screens should be used and what they’re using them for. Giving kids (and even adults, for that matter) a say in the rules that affect them, make them more likely to be friendlier adopters.
While setting rules is one thing, we all know enforcing them can bring a whole different set of challenges. Dr. Garth advocates for allowing technology to do the heavy lifting, like setting device limits.
He also outlines a three-step process that helps kids develops healthy screen time habits habits:
↪ Find an exit point: Maybe it's the end of a video or game that they are playing
🛣️ Provide an off-ramp: Have an activity or task for your child to complete after the screen is put down. This might be helping you run an errand or encourage them to play outside.
🙌 High five: Provide positive affirmation when your kid is able to transition away from their device without resistance. Our brains like to do things that feel good: if your child gets positive feedback after they put their screen down, they’ll remember it the next time.
… You can always cut the wi-fi, but we advocate for helping your kids (and you!) build healthier habits around technology.
Set up your screen time plan in only a few minutes with our contract.
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