ChalkFace has been following the ongoing debates raging around the world about the use of mobile devices by children. This recent in depth article from the BBC is looking at how the Corona virus has upended all these arguments.
Rules around kids’ screen time have evaporated as schools and workplaces have closed. Worrying about it should be low on our list of priorities.
There once was a time when we parents had rules about our children’s screen time. We consulted guidelines from pediatricians and absorbed the examples of tech moguls who seemed suspiciously wary of their own children’s access to the products they created. Rules varied between households and among children of different ages, but generally we treated technology as a syrupy treat to be enjoyed in moderation.
Then the coronavirus pandemic struck. Our houses crowded with confused family members displaced from their schools, workplaces, daycares and routines. Screen time rules scattered to the winds like so many viral particles, and everywhere children feasted upon YouTube and Netflix, Minecraft and Messenger Kids.
To better understand how the pandemic-induced explosion in screen time is affecting children, BBC Worklife interviewed pediatricians, child development experts and children’s media analysts. And none of them are upset that your children are spending far more time on screens these days, because their children are all using screens more too.
It seems in a crisis rules tend to go out the window in favor of anything that works. Having children stuck at home it is easy to see why parents are content if they are playing with their mobile devices. What do you think?
Photo / Image Credit :
Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.