On September 28, 2015, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released new recommendations on how parents can better manage technology in their children’s lives. With the understanding that mobile devices have become more accessible to children and infants, the AAP intends to help parents become more engaged with their children through the use of digital media while encouraging boundaries that prevent excessive use.
Setting Limits
As part of the 2015 report, the AAP recommends that parents set limits to digital media use for children of all ages and designate media-free periods.
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Parents can avoid displacing important face-to-face interactions by setting limits and preventing excessive use of digital media by their children. In fact, research indicates that face-to-face interactions are essential for child development and activity through digital mediums cannot replace authentic in-person interactions. In-person conversations also facilitate language learning in infants and young toddlers.
Co-Viewing Digital Media with Children
Among the new guidelines is the recommendation for parents to co-view television programming with their children. By viewing digital media together with their children, parents can remain engaged with their young ones and empower them to utilize appropriate digital media use. This way, parents can also better monitor how their children are using digital media.
Appropriate Digital Media Behavior
In addition, the AAP encourages parents to discuss appropriate digital etiquette and media behavior with their children. This recommendation is meant to help children build an early foundation on learning how to interact with others. Parental behavior leaves a strong impression on children and parents should be mindful of setting examples for their children with their own digital media use.
Changes to the Previous AAP Recommendations
The 2015 AAP publication builds upon the previous recommendation that screen time should be limited to two hours a day for children over age two and entirely discouraged for children under age two. However the previous policy statement, titled “Media Use by Children Younger Than Two Years,” was published in 2011. The 2015 recommendations aim to account for the fact that iPads and mobile devices have become widely available to infants and children in today’s world. Furthermore, several applications have been developed for these devices to be specifically used by young children. Research studies indicate that more than 30% of children in the US play with mobile devices while they are still in their diapers. Additionally, nearly three quarters of 13 to 17 year old teenagers have smartphones.
Concluding Thoughts
While positive media, such as educational programming, can be beneficial for children, harmful media influences and excessive media use can result in negative impacts on younger audiences. With such a large number of infants, children, and teenagers using mobile devices today, the more appropriate recommendations focus on positive media use and avoidance of excessive use of digital media. Parents should be attentive by setting appropriate expectations and maintaining an open dialogue with their children regarding digital media use.
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Oh man this makes me feel old. I always intended to just raise my child like how I was: no cellphone until middle school probably, no technology as a baby except for TV and TV related tech, and toys over apps.
I’m not even a millennial am I…