Author: Stephen Johnson / Source: Big Think
- A recent study tracked the media habits of families with preschool-age children.
- The results found that the screen-time of mothers was positively associated with the screen-time of their children, and that offering screens as a reward for good behavior is also linked to increased screen-time among kids.
- It’s important to study the effects of technology on preschool-age children because they’re at a stage in development when it’s especially easy to form habits and routines that carry on into adulthood.
Are you concerned about the amount of time your kids spend looking at screens? One effective step you can take right now is to set an example for your child by putting down your phone, turning off the TV or closing your laptop, suggests new research.
The study, published in the journal BMC Obesity, focused on the relationships between parents and their children’s screen use, and how different parenting practices, such as offering screen-time as a reward for good behavior, affect children’s screen use.
The researchers examined the media habits of about 40 families, all comprised of a mother, father and at least one child aged 1.5 to 5 years old, through questionnaires that measured:
- How much time parents and their kids spent on screens
- How parents engage with screens in front of their kids
- How parents monitor or limit their children’s screen use, including when they allow kids to use screens
The results on screen-time, which included television, computers, video games, tablets and smartphones, showed that kids spent about an hour-and-a-half looking at screens per day during the week,…
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