You won't believe your Screen

In most developed countries and even developing ones, screens are littered throughout the landscape. In 2016, Trinidad and Tobago mobile penetration rate was 160, the highest in the region, and that's just mobile devices. Screen usage can affect our eyes and health.

Why to limit it?

Digital Eyestrain, a termed for certain symptoms from using digital devices.Watching a screen for too long has been known to be harmful for people. Yet in today’s digital-era, we get lost in our activities and don't realise how much time we've spent. Two consecutive hours of watching a screen can cause eyestrain and fatigue. Also, using a screen before sleep has been proven to negatively affect sleep.

Types of screens and activities

The original TV used a CRT screen but that phased out to give flat-screen TV’s like Plasma, LCD and LED screens. Each type of screen has its own pros and cons. There are different activities which persons may undertake using a screen. The four activities are: 

1. Passive
2. Interactive
3. Communication
4. Content creation.

Passive is like watching TV, watching videos or reading on the screen. Whereas, interactive is more engaging and is like playing games and surfing (browsing) the internet. Communication includes video chatting and using social media. Finally, content creation is producing digital art (visual, audio, text) using the device.  

High quality content for Kids

High-quality content makes a difference. If you have kids, look at how they act when they use these devices. High-quality content usually results in positive behaviours.

If you feel there is heavy media use (this is subjective to each person), then you can create a schedule for yourself and your family. This is an excellent opportunity to engage family members in digital literacy and promote family values. Some strategies you can use are:

• Spending time together with a screen/online activity e.g. playing games, watching TV
• Limits on the kinds of devices kids can use and where they can use it 
• Screen-time limits 
• Guiding principles on the types of activities they can do or programs they can watch

Do make this a discussion and take your kids input into consideration. By having a conversation with them, parents gain an opportunity to learn about what activities their kids like allowing for the parent to provide guidance.  

  

How much time do you spend on a screen per day? Do you think kids need 6 hours of screen time?