Managing Your Child's Screen Time An interview with Ann Bryan, CEO of Circle, a screen management service.
Interview by Janet Jefferson
S
creen management was challenging before the pandemic but since March 2020 parents are left fighting a losing battle. According to a 2019 report from the American Academy of Pediatrics, children aged 8-12 spent an average of 4.5 hours a day on screens, while teens aged 13-18 spent 6.5 hours a day. The pandemic has made those numbers rise fast. The New York Times reported, children’s screen time had doubled by May 2020 as compared to the same time period a year earlier, according to Qustodio, a company that tracks usage on tens of thousands of devices used by children, ages 4 to 15, worldwide. Not only have children been relying on screens for academic purposes but also social and entertainment reasons. All of this extra screen time has consequences. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry states that too much screen time can lead to sleep issues, weight problems, mood swings, increased isolation, reduced physical activity, academic challenges, poor self-image, and an inability to relax and have fun without a screen. Chesapeake Family spoke with Anne Bryan, mother of four sons, former member of the Beaverton School Board, and CEO of Circle, a company that specializes in solutions for screen time management.
CF: Has screen time increased for all age groups? AB: Screen times across all age groups really have increased.
Things that are just mind blowing to say out loud are happening, [such as] online preschool. We know that it’s been particularly affecting teens in a very personal way. They need to be able to communicate with their friends so they are online all the time, but they are also more prone to feeling anxiety and depression. All age groups have seen a few pounds get added on, you are more likely to have symptoms of obesity or be more likely to have unhealthy behaviors. Less sleep is happening across all age groups because you are online more and it is distracting. We are really seeing these negative health benefits across all ages with a particular pain point at the teenage years.
CF: Can you tell us just a little bit about your company,
Circle? How does it work and what are users getting out of it? AB: Circle is really designed to be able to provide families with the tools they need to create the home internet solution that they want. We provide parents the information about where usage is happening, when it is happening, and then also the ability to set time limits. Everyone needs [a time limit] and [sometimes we need] to be able to just pause the internet for all devices for a time, [for example], if you want family dinners to be device free. We also provide a new feature, pandemic inspired, called focus time, which makes it so that you can have your online tools available to do the work that you need. During my focus time, I stay off of Instagram, online
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