MINNEAPOLIS — How much time do you allow your kids to be in front of a screen?
Really, there's not much of a choice for a lot of people with some kids distance learning and parents working from home. Despite the negatives you hear when it comes to your kids looking at screens all day, it's not all that bad! Parents need to hear this more: You are doing a great job and it's okay if you give your kid the iPad so you can get some work done.
"I think it's easy for parents to look at this in a black and white way and feel like screens are bad and you heard those things like screens can turn your brains into mush… and that's just not true," said child psychologist Dr. Sarah Jerstad with Children's Minnesota.
"Parents are living very busy and stressful lives and sometimes to be able to have their kid watch an educational show can give the parent the chance to get something done and have their own break and it's not harmful for a child to do that," said Dr. Jerstad.
This is an example of quality versus quantity. It's not necessarily the amount of time kids spend on devices, rather the kind of content they're consuming.
"What studies will tell us is when screens take the place of important activities like sleep or like physical activity or that so much time is spent on the screen that they are falling behind in school, that's when it's a problem," said Dr. Jerstad. "Studies will also tell us that brain activity shows, for example video games where problem solving skills are part of the game, that can be a positive learning experience for kids."
Like all things in life, its better in moderation.
Dr. Jersted says if parents partake and ask questions about what their kids are doing or watching, it shows they are interested.
"Better to understand it and be a part of it and that way if parents do need to set limits, I think kids will feel better about it."