The majority of children today are always engrossed with their devices such as too much TV, tablets, game consoles, and smartphones before they can even learn to play outside.
Technology has become a huge part of life and parents can make it healthy for their child as well by teaching them how to use media to their advantage. Pre-schoolers may seek help in learning the alphabet by watching TV, and grade schoolers can play with education apps. The teenagers can research online, and attend online tuition that can enhance their learning in school.
Experience Sleeping Issues
No all toddlers get a perfect night’s sleep. But if your child is really having a hard time staying on their sleep schedule, then the screen time could be the main reason. A child takes a longer time to sleep when they watch TV or have screen time within an hour and a half before their bedtime. The activity and lights can overstimulate their brain, which makes it more difficult to settle down before sleeping. Try reading them a bed time story instead to help them settle down.
The Child is Overstimulated
Overstimulation is among the initial signs of watching too much media. It is amongst the most obvious and common symptoms.
The signs of overstimulation are aggression, unable to sit still, bouts of crying, emotionally shutting down, meltdowns, irritability, and defiant behaviour.
These signs of overstimulation not only affect the parents and the rest of the family but their studies as well. The symptoms can have different causes, and there can be an overlap with issues of mental health. For instance, a child with anxiety might get overly stimulated. Therefore, they might not be able to handle that much screen time. Too much of watching TV or media could exacerbates anxiety.
Instead they could turn screen time into a positive interactive experience by getting personal one on one guidance from an online tutor.
Physically Inactive
It might feel like that an average toddler cannot ever sit still. But toddlers who watch TV more than 2 hours a day are more likely become less physically active. It is important to make sure that your child gets a lot of physical play time.
In addition, there is a risk that your child will grow up obese if they have too much unproductive screen time. When your child is just staring at the screen, they can become inactive and start reaching out for snacks. They will also watch ads that encourage them to consume unhealthy foods like drinking soda, eating potato chips, or binging on chocolate that can become their favorite go to snacks.
Neglect Their Learning Time- distracted by their devices
Even if they are very young, it is important to start instilling good learning habits in your child. You need to spend time every day to teach them something new. Use their screen time for more educational and interactive experiences. Or you can get the help of an online personal tutor. With online tuition classes, they learn to pay attention and treat their devices as educational tools rather than a toy or for games.
Be aware of these signs to prevent your child from having too much unsupervised and unproductive screen time.
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