While the Canadian Paediatric Society recommends avoiding all exposure to screens before the age of two and limiting screen time to one hour per day for children aged five and over, parents are of course free to make their own decisions about screen time when it comes to their children . While some parents will simply decide to ban them from their daily lives, is this really the right approach to take? Laurence Morency-Guay, a psychology professor specializing in human development and author of the book “Saying More Often No to Screens for Children,” gives us her point of view on this subject.
As screens are omnipresent in today's life, it can be difficult to completely eliminate them from children's lives. In this case, it is possible to favor an approach where screens are actually part of life without representing a daily habit , just like using an ice cream machine at home, for example. To do this, it is therefore important that parents are themselves a model of screen use and that they adopt good habits towards them .
Furthermore, it is ideal to avoid putting screens on a pedestal, which would lead children to want them more , thus seeing them as something forbidden that we want to have at all costs.
Finally, the ability to control oneself in relation to the use of screens will come through the child's education and experiences, and not through the simple use of the screens made available to them . Their different experiences will allow them to slowly develop over time their ability to self-regulate in all areas of their life, including in relation to the use of screens.
To learn more about the different tips offered by Laurence regarding screen management for children, take the time to watch this video!
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