Reports suggest that the ongoing pandemic has increased the average daily screen time of Indians by an additional two hours, with a hundred percent increase noted in children between the age group of five and fifteen. With the new normal making us shift to remote learning, the kids are already getting to have more screen time than their usual routine. And, we understand that this is making you really worried.
All those screen time restrictions that you had levied prior to the pandemic have all been tossed out and away. So, should you ask kids to only use their gadgets when it’s time for their online classes? Should you still hold on to the earlier rules of screen time that you had set? At Yuvashakti Model School, a renowned CBSE school in Rohini, we believe that taking their gadgets away for good except for those few hours of online classes is not the solution to this issue. The key is to effectively manage the screen time of kids amidst this new normal, and that’s exactly what we will explore further in this article today.
We believe that the easiest way to keep children engaged and happy without their gadgets is to keep them occupied with other activities that make them happy. In these unprecedented times, we have seen how the parents fraternity from our CBSE school in Rohini, have helped their children gain new skills of cooking, painting, and more, which have truly been fun without the need for laptops or smartphones, and is really appreciable.
We, at Yuvashakti Model School, have always outlined that it becomes easier to teach children when their adults are leading by example. Therefore, you will have to make provisions to show them ways to have fun without those gadgets. We would suggest organizing a backgammon night or an antakshari match for those sessions of family time. In fact, even cooking together as a family can be super-fun.
It would be wrong to assume that everything they watch on those gadgets has to be bad for their young psyche. But, in order to not leave any doubts or worries in your mind, we believe you should have a clear and open conversation with them about it. After all, monitoring should come before censoring, right?
There are a couple of rules that you need to continue from the earlier time, such as setting restrictions on no-gadget zones and times at home. So, make sure to convey the message that no one is allowed to use any gadgets during mealtime, and there would be no screen time after hitting the bed at night.
Off-screen activities are great and necessary, but you don’t always have the time in the midst of your busy schedule to constantly support and plan non-screen tasks. So, it’s completely fine to let children have some screen time to keep them entertained. We would say that let them watch their favorite cartoon or cricket match for some time at least without getting alarmed about it.
We understand the dilemma faced by you regarding the screen time in this new normal. Thus, our respected principal Mr. Harinder Kumar, along with the esteemed management committee of Yuvashakti Model School, has brought forth several means to add greater value to the online content that children view during this time.
We, at Yuvashakti, being one of the foremost CBSE schools in Rohini, Delhi, have laid out virtual quiz competitions, puzzles, number games, and more, so that even that extra bit of screen time can be put to good use. We firmly believe that while there’s no way to predict the end of the pandemic, we can surely come together to make the best of any difficult situation. Isn’t it!