The amount of time children spend on screens , their mental health and balancing work and family are among the top concerns parents have for their children according to a nationwide survey of 12,000 parents by the health insurer nib New Zealand.
Educator and parenting expert Nathan Wallis was an advisor and joined Kathryn Ryan to discuss the findings.
He says it’s the third year nib has run the survey and, for the third consecutive time, screen time has topped the concerns shared by parents. With various lockdowns, it’s no surprise children and parents have turned to screens.
“With screen time particularly, because of us being in lockdown, there’s been a lot more screen time, but that was the main concern even before we had lockdown. Lockdown would have intensified it because people’s kids were on the screen a lot more.
“It is a bit experimental, parents know it’s a new thing, they don’t know what damage it’s causing, they hear all these alarming things about it causing addictive behaviour in the brain, so I can see why they’re concerned.”
There were some positives from lockdowns with parents saying they really enjoyed spending more time with their families and wanted to maintain that.
Another positive step, Wallis says, is that parents and adults are starting to believe that there is more pressure on children today than there was in their own childhood.
“You hear people at the local pub going, ‘this generation have got it so much easier, they’ve got their own bedroom and an Xbox and Playstation’. But what the nib survey shows is that they are acknowledging it’s a whole lot harder, there’s a lot more pressures for teenagers and children today than there was for previous generations.”
Back to screen time, Wallis says parent’s concerns are valid given research shows there is an increased risk of anxiety and depression the more screen time we have.
“There’s a real concern for parents and it’s valid. But if you come from a household where parents have two hours device-free time a day, that takes kids completely outside that risk group. What that tells me is we don’t have to take away their devices, we just have to give their brains two hours a day in the conditions in which it’s evolved, which is continuous communication and interaction.
“Now, they tend to communicate for 20 seconds then look down at a screen. They don’t need 12 hours a day, it’s just two hours a day.”
With his own kids, Wallis does it around dinnertime and the whole family follows the rule of putting their device away.
“Between 5 and 7pm, there’s no devices and that gives us two hours interacting. There might be a bit more fighting and flicking each other with tea towels, and that might seem annoying, but those interactions release peptides in the brain which keeps us in good mental health.”
He says a good way to lay down the rule is when your child receives their first cellphone.
“You just lay that down as a condition, then it’s normal in your household. If your kid is already attached to their cellphone and is going to die without it, then that’s going to take some negotiation. You don’t want to be punitive, they’re already going through a lot so I might make that incremental.”
As for toddlers and babies, Wallis says any amount of screen time is too much screen time.
“We know that for under 12-month olds it’s not good because it interferes with the development of their vision and even at 15 months it’s giving the child’s brain an instant reward for absolutely no effort. You’re not encouraging any problem solving or any creativity or individual thought because the screen is telling the child what to think.
“I’d be very cautious about any screen time at all. There’s no point beating yourself up about it if you’re using it as a type of babysitter but just be aware there’s no educational benefit, it’s something your child is tolerating so try have it be a very limited time.”