That one summer we let our kids have too much screen time

So, once again, our names have been left off the nomination list for Parents of the Year.

This summer, our boys spent way too much time on their devices.

That one summer we let our kids have too much screen time

What often began as “an hour” would turn into a whole morning. On road trips, the alternating hour-on-hour-off quickly went out the car window. The encouragement to be more creative online gave way to hours of YouTube and watching other people playing Minecraft.

I mean, it wasn’t a total loss. They did swim quite a bit and played outside when it wasn’t blazing hot. We traveled to a number of places, did some mission work, saw some old friends.

But our kids aren’t crazy-scheduled in the summer, either. We don’t shuttle them from practice to tournaments to camps to enrichment summer classes and back again. Maybe they should be more involved in those things. Maybe we should force it a little more.

So, they are home a lot. And on their screens.

And if they are not on a screen, they are…brace yourself…bored.

Where did we go wrong

During the school year, we set screen time limits. On school nights, homework and any chores come first. Then they can have 30 minutes of “recreational” screen time. It wasn’t perfect, and we didn’t always enforce it, but it mostly worked.

As a technology integrator/media specialist, I’m very aware of the effects of technology on kids. I understand the increased impact it can have on kids with special struggles, like ADHD. I know what the American Pediatric Association recommends.

Yet, we just let it all sort of fall apart as the summer wore on.

I guess it’s no different from so many other things. Bedtimes, curfews, healthy eating. (Don’t try to tell me you feed your kiddos the same carefully prepared, nutritious meals in late August that you did in early June. Yeah, that’s what I thought.)

I think the difference is how frustrating it is to see our kids wasting the whole summer on their screens. We want them to get outside, to play, to explore, to experiment, to appreciate the world around them.

What now

Like so many things with parenting, we could sit around and lament all that was lost this summer and wallow in the guilt of not keeping the tech under better control, or monitoring more, or forcing them to do other things.

But we won’t. Because we’ve got some work ahead of us.

Transitioning back into the school year is challenging, isn’t it? For those of us with late-morning sleepers-in, it’s a rough acclimation back into a 5:45 am alarm clock. Packing lunches, weekly chore routines, and any number of other schedules to be re-instituted.

Now, add to that “re-establishing technology rules and expectations.”

But before you paint an image of forcefully prying devices from the fingers of your little techno-zombies, realize that this is a great time for making any changes to your expectations. Take into account that your kids are getting older and may be ready for more freedom, which they will welcome.

Child psychology tells us that kids crave boundaries to feel more secure. Though they may outwardly whine about it, most school-age kids struggle with being able to self-monitor their own tech use and need the external guidance that our expectations provide. (Really.)

So, with only a couple weeks left before school starts, here are the steps we’ll be taking to get “back on track.”

  1. My wife and I need to have a conversation about the coming school year. A “Tech Plan Date Night,” if you will. We will review what has worked well in the past, and what needs to change with where our boys are right now.
  2. We will create a rough draft of expectations for screen-time, appropriate content, cell phone use (for our teenager), physical locations of technology, etc.
  3. We will present that one night after dinner to the boys and let them voice their thoughts. If we need to, we can meet a few days later to all sign the written document.
  4. Establish a schedule for reviewing the progress of the expectations (maybe every three months?), so modifications can be made, as needed.

Sound a little too much like a corporate committee meeting? Maybe. But the see-how-it-goes method we’ve tried in the past didn’t get us too far.

What we will do differently next year

A few months before the summer hits next year, as we are going through the summer school offerings and the YMCA and parks and rec schedules, we’ll need to revisit the expectations for technology. This time, we’ll modify them for the summer and make sure we are all on the same page.

It’s not just the amount of time they spend on screens during the summer that bothered us so much, it was the battle we had to have any time we suggested they do something else. Or the drama that ensued when we did pull them off their screens. Or the boredom from which they almost died.

Hopefully, a clear summer set of expectations will prevent those tragedies next time around.

How did you spend your summer vacation?

Please tell me we are not alone in this struggle! I’d love to hear your story, and what you did to smooth out your summer. Add your comments below.

57 Responses

  2. Thanks for the strategies you are revealing on this website. Another thing I’d prefer to say is always that getting hold of some copies of your credit history in order to inspect accuracy of each and every detail could be the first action you have to carry out in fixing credit. You are looking to cleanse your credit profile from detrimental details errors that spoil your credit score.

    Reply

  4. My programmer is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on various websites for about a year and am worried about switching to another platform. I have heard excellent things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can import all my wordpress content into it? Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated!

    Reply

  5. I have seen that now, more and more people are attracted to surveillance cameras and the subject of picture taking. However, as a photographer, you need to first invest so much of your time deciding which model of dslr camera to buy plus moving store to store just so you could potentially buy the most economical camera of the trademark you have decided to decide on. But it would not end there. You also have to take into consideration whether you should purchase a digital video camera extended warranty. Thanks a lot for the good guidelines I received from your weblog.

    Reply

  6. I’ve been surfing online more than 3 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It is pretty worth enough for me. In my view, if all webmasters and bloggers made good content as you did, the internet will be a lot more useful than ever before.

    Reply

  7. One other issue is when you are in a circumstance where you will not have a cosigner then you may really need to try to make use of all of your educational funding options. You can find many awards and other scholarship grants that will ensure that you get funds to support with institution expenses. Many thanks for the post.

    Reply

  9. Thanks for your concepts. One thing I’ve noticed is banks in addition to financial institutions know the spending behavior of consumers as well as understand that most people max outside their real credit cards around the vacations. They sensibly take advantage of this fact and begin flooding your inbox and snail-mail box by using hundreds of no-interest APR credit cards offers right after the holiday season finishes. Knowing that for anyone who is like 98 in the American community, you’ll hop at the possible opportunity to consolidate personal credit card debt and switch balances to 0 APR credit cards.

    Reply

  11. Many thanks for this article. I might also like to mention that it can often be hard when you are in school and merely starting out to establish a long credit rating. There are many learners who are only trying to live and have an extended or positive credit history can sometimes be a difficult matter to have.

    Reply

  12. I have noticed that in unwanted cameras, specialized receptors help to {focus|concentrate|maintain focus|target|a**** automatically. Those sensors associated with some digital cameras change in contrast, while others use a beam with infra-red (IR) light, specially in low lighting. Higher specification cameras oftentimes use a mixture of both techniques and may have Face Priority AF where the photographic camera can ‘See’ a face as you concentrate only in that. Many thanks for sharing your thinking on this weblog.

    Reply

  15. Thanks for your posting on the travel industry. I’d personally also like contribute that if you are a senior taking into account traveling, it is absolutely imperative that you buy travel insurance for senior citizens. When traveling, older persons are at biggest risk being in need of a health emergency. Receiving the right insurance package in your age group can safeguard your health and give you peace of mind.

    Reply

  17. I have learned many important things through your post. I’d also like to convey that there might be situation in which you will make application for a loan and do not need a co-signer such as a U.S. Student Support Loan. However, if you are getting a borrowing arrangement through a standard bank then you need to be willing to have a co-signer ready to assist you to. The lenders are going to base their own decision using a few issues but the largest will be your credit ratings. There are some loan companies that will likewise look at your job history and make up your mind based on this but in most cases it will be based on on your rating.

    Reply

  18. Great post. I used to be checking constantly this blog and I’m inspired! Extremely helpful info specifically the ultimate part 🙂 I deal with such info much. I used to be seeking this certain information for a long time. Thanks and good luck.

    Reply

  19. I have been exploring for a bit for any high-quality articles or blog posts on this kind of area . Exploring in Yahoo I at last stumbled upon this web site. Reading this information So i?m happy to convey that I have a very good uncanny feeling I discovered exactly what I needed. I most certainly will make certain to don?t forget this site and give it a look on a constant basis.

    Reply

  23. Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point. You clearly know what youre talking about, why throw away your intelligence on just posting videos to your weblog when you could be giving us something enlightening to read?

    Reply

  26. Thanks for your short article. I would like to say that a health insurance broker also works for the benefit of the particular coordinators of your group insurance coverage. The health insurance broker is given a directory of benefits wanted by anyone or a group coordinator. What a broker may is search for individuals and also coordinators which best match those requirements. Then he shows his referrals and if all parties agree, the broker formulates binding agreement between the two parties.

    Reply

  27. Hi, Neat post. There’s a problem with your site in internet explorer, would test this? IE still is the market leader and a big portion of people will miss your great writing because of this problem.

    Reply

  29. One thing is that one of the most common incentives for applying your card is a cash-back and also rebate offer. Generally, you will get 1-5 back on various purchases. Depending on the card, you may get 1 in return on most purchases, and 5 back again on purchases made going to convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores plus ‘member merchants’.

    Reply

  35. Thanks for some other informative website. The place else may just
    I get that kind of info written in such an ideal means? I have a undertaking
    that I am just now running on, and I have been on the
    look out for such information.

    Reply

  39. Thank you for your sharing. I am worried that I lack creative ideas. It is your article that makes me full of hope. Thank you. But, I have a question, can you help me?

    Reply

  41. Boost your career with the CompTIA XK0-005 Exam! Master the fundamentals of Linux and gain a recognized certification to enhance your professional skills. Our expert-led study resources ensure you’re fully prepared, giving you the confidence to pass the exam on your first try. Unlock new opportunities and advance your IT career today!

    Reply

  42. For latest information you have to pay a quick visit world-wide-web and on world-wide-web I found this website as a best website for most up-to-date updates.

    Feel free to visit my web page vpn

    Reply

  45. Child psychology tells us that kids crave boundaries to feel more secure. Though they may outwardly whine about it, most school-age kids struggle with being able to self-monitor their own tech use and need the external guidance that our expectations provide.

    Reply

  52. If some one needs expert view on the topic of running a blog then i propose him/her to pay a visit this webpage, Keep up the nice work.

    Also visit my web-site: nordvpn coupons inspiresensation ()

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *