From the Screen... to Green

This summer, don’t let the television, video games, and computers babysit your kids. Children of all ages need playtime with other children and adults that

• Allows them to release energy
• Makes them develop their own understanding of situations and create their own solutions for problems.
• Teaches them problem-solving and to cope with conflicts with other people
• Improves their self-control
• Develops theircreativity and higher levels of thinking
• Helps develop their social skills when they interact with other children and adults
• Helps work out their emotions
• Gives children experience with the diversity in nature and outdoor environments

But…Children are increasingly spending more time indoor in front of a screen!

Let’s Get the Facts…

• Kids ages 8 to 18 spend approximated 44.5 hours in front of computer, television, and game screens each week . Besides sleep, this is the most time they will spend on a sole activity in the day.
• 83% of children under six use any screen mediaon a typical day
• By the time they are 18, children will have witnessed 200,000 acts of violence on television, including 40,000 murders.
• 61% of programming from 1995-1997 dealt with interpersonal violence and the highest proportions were in children’s shows.

Too much screen time that contains violence has consequences for children and can impact their thinking, emotions, and behaviors. Some of the major psychological consequences are:

Children,

• Become emotionally desensitized to real world violence, and less likely to take action on behalf of victims.
• View violence as an effectivemeans of resolving conflicts.
• Perceive the world as a violent and mean place to be feared and protected against.
• Can become more aggressive and violent.
• Become depressed, and even have nightmares and sleep disturbances

Attention!

Video games have a bigger impact because most of them contain high levels of violence and their system of rewards and reinforcement is addictive.

In addition, too much screen time creates sedentary lifestyle that has important health-related consequences.

• The sedentary lifestyle led by couch potato kids is a major factor in childhood obesity. One-third of America’s children are either obese or at risk of becoming obese.
• Studies indicate that obesity in children increases the more hours they watch television, and kids who watch more than three hours of TV a day are 50 percent more likely to be obese than kids who watch less than two hours.
• Media advertising heavily to children can greatly influence their food preferences, purchase requests, and diets.
• Obesity is linked to Type II diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, and cancer.

Parents! You can take action and reduce the time your children spend in front of a screen!

Follow the American Pediatrics Association recommendation: No screen before the age of 2!