At KidPower, we are proud to provide "Screen-Free Activities" in our waiting room as an alternative to passing time on screens. We will also post educational articles and other interesting parent information about the effects of screen time on the developing brain and body nearby in the waiting room as well as through links below. These articles include:
parent guidelines for healthy screen habits
access to an online program that personalizes screen time to your lifestyle
blogs from professionals in the healthcare field
scholarly articles and abstracts
fun activities for the whole family to enjoy
We are taking a small step towards addressing the "technology epidemic" and hope that we can inspire healthy boundaries when it comes to technology use.
Screen-Free
Screens are being introduced to kids at an increasingly early age for learning, leisure, and other parts of life, with the number of hours spent on screens each day increasing from elementary to middle school and again from middle school to high school. Some studies show, that even with screens being used commonly in schools, American children will still spend more time in front of a screen for entertainment purposes than they do in school.
In addition, research regarding pros and cons of screen use continues to show that children who spend less time on screens experience a number of benefits in their lives including individual skill development and overall quality of life. In these studies, kids with less screen time were more likely than their peers to:
read with more ease
focus for longer periods
have a healthy self-esteem
engage in social activities
choose activities that will help them be more emotionally & physically fit