Too much, too long, too late: Screen time & your family.
Screen use before bed is a big issue in many homes for families, negatively impacting especially children.
Brightness and lighting would impact anyone trying to fall into what we call REM sleep patterns. How many kids already have active imaginations and high energy levels? How many adults are kept up at night for hours beyond their bedtimes?
Even with parental controls, timers other apps, sometimes things slip through that may simply engage a child’s imagination in positive and negative ways, leaving a child excited or anxious and unable to sleep.
Think about it; questions regarding your family and their sleep patterns:
Have you talked with your family about how using tech and screens can impact sleep? Just taking it away is rude and, at times, seen from especially a child’s or adolescent’s perspective as mean and hurtful. Have conversations, and make an attempt to help people understand. It’s what you would want if it were you. Keep in mind that, with adolescents, assignments may be due, but they should have a plan to finish those 30 minutes before bed if possible.
Have you set time limits around screen use, especially at night? I call this the spiritual gift of “no.” At a certain time, the devices need to go away.
Do you have a line of sight? Can you see a child’s devices after they go to bed? Or do they hide them? Perhaps the devices need to be in a room other than their bedroom during the night. It’s usually good to have a designated place where they cannot sneak them after everyone goes to bed.
What is your screenless bedtime routine mom & dad? Does your child have a library in their room with books you can read to them? Do you consistently try to read Bible stories or any stories with them for 20-30 minutes a night and pray with them before they go to bed?
Does your child or grandchild ever see you using screens in your bed late at night? Monkey see, monkey do! If your child sleeps in your bed sometimes at night with you are they not sleeping well because you are on your devices? This goes for texting and driving too. Your child will eventually imitate what they see you doing.
For some children this is a form of addiction. And so it must be treated in a loving but firm way.
How much time do you spend praying about what content you engage with at night rather than worrying about politics or binge watching on screens for hours before bed?
Does your child or teen know and can acknowledge that you are setting these boundaries because you love them?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Inspired by the article from Lisa Marshall, “The light or the content? What we know about screens and sleep disruption,” University of Colorado, Boulder, May 28, 2024.
www.colorado.edu/today/2024/05/28/light-or-content-what-we-know-about-screens-and-sleep-disruption