How to Improve Your Childs Attention Span All day children are surrounded by and interacting with screens. Between televisions, smartphones, tablets, readers, computers, and gaming systems there are countless devices that children are becoming immersed in. While using these devices isn’t bad, using them for 6-10 hours every day can be harmful. Studies have revealed that children aged 8-18 years old spend on average 7.5 hours per day interacting with some form of digital media. It’s important to recognize that all the time spent with these devices isn’t bad but there needs to be acceptable limits in place that encourage physical and mental growth in children. Reading, researching, and doing homework are just some of the many benefits that media devices bring but many children are spending too much time casually browsing? Casual browsing is time spent that replaces exercise or social interaction and it’s a good idea to eliminate a portion of the time spent immersed into something that’s not producing any worthwhile results. The biggest culprit is the television but introducing some guidelines into both yours and your children’s life can cut down on their screen time, help build healthier relationships and encourage development. One of the changes you can make that will have the biggest impact is ensuring that the television is off during meals. Nearly three-quarters of families leave the television on during meals and that is taking away from normal conversation and interaction that people should have during meals.
Families have become totally disengage from one another and are focused on what’s on the television, not on their family. Spending more time together without being bothered by any forms of media will result in a stronger family relationship and more communication between family members.
Another change that can have a positive impact is not allowing screens during homework. In some cases a screen will be needed but for the majority of students still in high school or middle school a computer or cell phone is simply a distraction. Even setting a limit of just 2 hours of dedicated homework time without any media devices will result in a higher quality of homework being produced and will help children focus more. Casual screen time is another culprit that needs to be dealt with. The best thing a parent can do is to reduce the amount of casual screen time their child has. Once all homework, chores, and exercise has been completed then it’s ok to let your child browse the Internet or play video games. If they are casually browsing while trying to accomplish something else it will result in loss of concentration and a harder time focusing on something. Removing screens from the bedroom goes hand in hand with reducing casual screen time. Studies have shown that late night texting and web browsing are the reasons that teens are so tired in class. Poor sleep and an inability to concentrate can have a variety of detrimental affects such as obesity or poor academic performance. Keeping any digital media devices out of the bedroom is a great step towards improving your child’s day to day life. While digital devices aren’t evil it’s important to make sure your child is not spending too much time staring at a screen and not accomplishing or learning anything. Get more information about Improve Your Childs Attention Span.