Stay home, stay well: Watch over kids’ screen time

Coronavirus has disrupted the regular activities of mass people as most of them are now forced to stay at home to maintain social distancing.

At this time of shutdown, internet has become a source of essential information. It also connects netizens who are working from home.

Besides, internet has taken a place in children's lives at this time of crisis. As most of their schools are shut and they are denied access to outdoor activities and games, the amount of time they spend in front of screen increased.

According to experts, this increasing screen time can be harmful for the mental and physical development of children.

Allowing more time on screen may be a matter of survival for many parents but they can still take steps to mitigate the screens' impact, they said.

Chowdhury Rehnuma Tabassum, medical officer of pediatric neurology and autism department at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, said, "We need to think about screen time, video games and computers. It's not healthy to let children spend too much of time in front of screens for video game."

In fact, World Health Organization (WHO) has officially classified video game addiction as a disease in 2018.

The doctor suggested that parents should use this crisis time to develop a deeper connection with their children.

"In a busy life, we get very little time to spend with our kids. So, this leisure time can be utilised by talking and playing with them," she said.

Rehnuma said the first task is to make a new routine for children.

"The new routine should be made up after consulting with the kids. So that they have a say in the process and it will help them to own the routine," she added.

The physician also said that abruptly stopping the screen time is not a wise decision. There should be a schedule to phase out screen time gradually.

She suggested that an alarm could be set to signal beginning and ending of the time scheduled for playing video games online.