Deputy Principal/Student Wellbeing

Good afternoon,

I recently stumbled across some great information about screen time on the ESafety website. Please take the time to have a read of the information below. I found this information to be very important and timely, especially after nearly two years of working remotely. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

jgow@sanoblepark.catholic.edu.au

- James

How much is too much?

There is no magic figure. The right amount of screen time can depend on a range of factors like your child’s age and maturity, the kind of content they are consuming, their learning needs and your family routine.

It can be easy to focus only on the clock, but the quality and nature of what they are doing online, and your involvement, are just as important.

Consider your child’s screen use in the context of their overall health and wellbeing. For example, is online time getting in the way of their sleep and exercise? Is it impacting on their face-to-face connections with family and friends? The answers to these questions will guide you and help strike the right balance of online and offline activities for your child.

Signs that your child’s online activity may be having a negative impact on them or on your family include:

less interest in social activities like meeting friends or playing sport
not doing so well at school
tiredness, sleep disturbance, headaches, eye strain
changes in eating patterns
reduced personal hygiene
obsession with particular websites or games
extreme anger when being asked to take a break from online activity
appearing anxious or irritable when away from the computer
becoming withdrawn from friends and family

Help your child manage their online time

Stay engaged and encourage balance

Keep an eye on the games, apps and devices your child uses. Chat with your child regularly and help them stay aware of how much time they are spending on different online and offline activities.
Include positive things outside the online world in your conversations, such as what they love in life, careers they are interested in and new hobbies.
Join in. Play games together as a family, or explore some joint online projects. Rather than being just a solitary activity, online time can then become another way of strengthening connections as well as building social skills.
Where possible, avoid limiting online time as a punishment as this approach may inflate its importance to children.

Create a plan

Involve your child in creating a family plan for leisure and entertainment time that balances time spent sitting in front of screens — including time online and watching TV — and a variety of offline activities.
Work out the plan together. Young people are more likely to respond to rules they have contributed to and see as being fair and consistent.
As well as agreed age-based time limits, the plan could include rules about which websites can be visited and online games can be played. It could also include control of access to the internet or devices, perhaps with daily passwords revealed once family time, homework and chores are complete.
A minor reduction each day or a ‘15-minutes to switch-off’ warning can help the transition to a more balanced use of time.

Source - https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/big-issues/time-online