Limit Your Teen’s Screen Time With Five Easy Strategies
Managing kids’ screen time is challenging for parents, but not if you set some boundaries. Learn to limit your teen’s screen time with five easy strategies.
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-CanCan Mom, Cheryl L. Butler
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Your kids need to concentrate more on school, after-school interests, and fun in real life with family and friends.
Here are five ways the teens in your life can change it up and have some screen-free fun:
- Consider your own attachment to screens/model better habits
- Get your kids involved with cooking
- Brainstorm a “free-time” list
- Earn device-free credits
- Virtual volunteering can limit screen time
Start Here to Limit Screen Time
Have a conversation with your kids before you start laying down new ground rules about limited screen time. When your children feel like you include them in decision-making, you have a much better chance at a successful outcome.
Tip 1: Consider Your Attachment to Screens/Model Better Habits
Our children, regardless of their ages, continually observe us. They quietly monitor our daily habits, good and bad, and without our realizing it, they begin to mimic us. We’re their ultimate role models!
A recent study found that adults (yes, us moms and dads!) spend more hours than we’d probably like to admit glued to gadgets such as phones, laptops, and televisions.
Here’s a quote from an article by StudyFinds.org:
A poll of 2,000 British adults, commissioned by Vision Direct, found that the typical person will spend a staggering 34 years looking at phones, computers, or televisions. During the typical adult lifespan, from ages 18-81, researchers say a person will be glued to their screens for over 13 hours a day. That adds up to 4,866 hours each year and a stunning 301,733 hours throughout those 62 adult years.
StudyFinds.org
Wow! These statistics floored me. If I’m spending oodles of time attached to my electronics, why wouldn’t my children feel they could do the same?
Screens in our homes provide an effective communication channel with the outside world, but we shouldn’t allow easy access to stimulating content like videos, games, and social media to compromise an active lifestyle or direct interaction with loved ones.
Before trying to shift your kids away from their screens, take inventory of your screen time. Evaluate how often you hang out in front of the TV. Are you checking texts around the clock, including when your kids are trying to talk to you? Is your laptop propped on the kitchen island 24/7 so it pulls you away even during mealtimes?
If you’re conscious of your screen habits, you’ll be able to make adjustments and set an excellent example for the rest of your family. I committed to putting my laptop away at four every day and not bringing it out again until we’ve settled in for after-dinner activities.
Tip 2: Get Your Kids Involved with Cooking
When your kids are involved in the kitchen, not only will you gain extra help throughout the week, but kids will easily stay off their devices for hours at a time.
– CanCan Mom, Cheryl L. Butler
Cooking and eating together as a family is one of the best ways to stay connected regardless of what’s happening in the outside world.
I love to cook and try new recipes. I credit my mother for getting me and my siblings interested in food preparation at a very young age.
There are dozens of ways teens can help out in the kitchen, even if they aren’t ready to take on concocting a full recipe:
- Letting them browse your favorite cookbooks is a great way to introduce them to the world of cooking. Books with colorful photos of finished recipes can whet the appetite and pique interest in creating something similar.
Start tonight. After looking at cookbooks, each child puts a dinner idea on a piece of paper in a bowl. One is picked for tomorrow’s (or whatever night’s) dinner.
- Teens who have their driver’s licenses can help run to the market. Write the list of needed ingredients and give it to the driver with coupons and a way to pay. They’ll feel great about contributing to the family meal by doing the shopping.
- Experimenting with new ingredients is also a fun way to appreciate new tastes and cultures. We have recipe “try-outs” once a week in our home. This allows my kids the opportunity to prepare anything they’re interested in making (within reason) and serve the entire family.
One of my sons enjoys this so much he teases us at the beginning of the week with his “mystery” dish and tries to keep us guessing what will be served over the weekend.
- At the same time, one of my daughters discovered she loves to photograph food.
I’m a huge fan of meal planning. Having my kids participate in our weekly menu is a win/win for all.
See Also: 4 Great Reasons Meal Planning Is a Must for a Happier Family Life
Tip 3: Brainstorm a “Free-Time” List
One mom on Pinterest came up with a solution that her tweens and teens liked—brainstorming a list of 50 things, big and small, to reduce screen time together as a family. This idea allowed everyone to have input on ways to hang out and keep busy without any (or limited) electronic time.
The list ran the gamut from eating dinner outside a couple of times a week to room makeovers in their home. One ambitious high schooler started her own pet-sitting business and was scheduled weeks in advance because she was helping families who were both working from home and doing remote learning and didn’t have that extra quality time for their pets.
Check out this creative list of 100 Things Teenagers Can Do Without Screens for lots of cool ideas.
Your Teen Magazine
Tip 4: Earn Device-Free Credits
You can set up a contest where the winner who has the lowest screen hours each week doesn’t have to do one of their chores, and the child who has the most amount of screen time has to do that one chore on top of their other chores.
It’s a double-win idea as the child who had to do the extra chore automatically lowered their screen time—and gets motivated to win the contest the next week!
Also, I saw an interesting idea mentioned on a Pinterest board—trading screen time for money or gift cards. I wasn’t crazy about bribing my eight kids with money, so I modified the idea to benefit the entire family.
We all agreed to trade technology hours for activities like reading, biking, gardening, or organizing things like closets and bedrooms. Each hour spent away from our screens earned us (pick an amount). This money was put towards either a family outing or an item.
Within three weeks, we banked a lot of screen-free credits, which we decided would be put toward a weekend getaway at a mountain resort.
This money was deducted from my meal planning/coupon savings fund that I use for family extras. (Yes, meal planning, couponing, and kid-free food shopping where spouse or partner spends time with kiddos instead of coming with me saves a lot of money! Try it!)
We’re all looking forward to a long weekend away, but even better, each of us realizes how much we’re enjoying activities other than looking at a phone or television screen. (Even though they won’t always admit that!)
See Also: 5 Easy Strategies to Save Your Family Money Right Away
Tip 5: Virtual Volunteering Can Limit Screen Time
There are times when screen time can be valuable. For example, there are new opportunities to give back in a virtual world.
One of the most significant ways to get out of a personal slump is to stop focusing on yourself and spend your time and energy helping others. Teens are at the perfect age to spend their free time giving back. (Whether they know it or not!) And with access to the internet, it’s easier than ever to match individual interests with opportunities right in your community.
In addition to volunteer choices in your community, these resources are a terrific starting point.
• Peers and Students Taking Action
Get your teen on board with making a difference in the lives of people and fellow students who need support. It might be one of the best decisions They make on- and off-screen!
How do you stay on top of your child’s screen time? Share your tips in the comment section below, or you can email me at Cheryl@cancanmom.com.
