Reporting by Rachel Dunphy
The numbers would make you believe that we (and our kids) do nothing but sit and stare at our screens all day. According to Nielsen, the average American adult spends nearly 12 hours a day on electronic media, mostly screen-based. Kids as young as two are spending more than two hours on screen media every day, and by 8-18 that average has ballooned. Excluding homework time, tweens (8-12 years old) spend nearly six hours each day on their devices, and teens (13-18) skyrocket to nine hours, according to Common Sense Media.
In our guts we know that the truth is more mixed than simply creating a dividing line between screen time versus other time. We mix the two ─ glancing at a screen for a quick round of PokémonGO, finding out who was in that horror flick we haven’t thought about since 2009, or a quick YouTube fix or SMS. As parents we know that we’re guilty of those moments when the “screen trumps life”. It happens every time we walk down a street with our nose in our device. But we also know that part of our parental job description is addressing and managing our kid’s screen time.
Having the Conversation
Websites like Common Sense offer great advice and guidelines for healthy internet use and help you figure out what’s right for your family. They are good conversation starters and help you know what the right questions to ask are.
The Next Gen Tech
If you’re feeling like you need more than a conversation this might be a good time to look at the next generation of screen time monitoring offerings. The first generation of Internet filtering programs were crude; they were predominantly software, occasionally being packaged as part of your home router. They had to be installed on each device and they often slowed down or even crashed your PC.
The next gen of products works across in the cloud, across your network and on multiple devices. They give parents the ability to filter content, set time limits, monitor behavior, and pause functionalities on a specific device or across the entire family network. Parents can design a customized plan for each kid’s needs. Sheesh, they can even monitor their own screen behavior, hopefully setting the same limits they strive to teach their children. Some are subscription based, some are one time purchases, but all work across tablets, laptops, and game machines. While some families might choose to puzzle out screen time limits without the technical assist, it’s now easier than ever if you need a hand.
Torch: A Family Safe Router
This Wi-Fi router, available this fall for $249.99, comes equipped with all the controls you need to regulate internet access in the house. Torch records internet use on each device and presents parents with detailed but easy to read summaries available on a computer, phone, or tablet.
Screen time: An App for Monitoring Screen time
A subscription-based mobile app, Screen Time can limit or cut off a kid’s access to a selection of apps or their entire device (say turning it off at bedtime, for example), depending on parental settings. For $3.99/month or $39.99/year, the tool lets you regulate your child’s downloading or use of any app, sends daily reports, and rewards kids with extra time for completing homework and chores. A free, limited version of the app is available to test it out.
Disney Circle: Works In and Outside the Home
Circle is a piece of hardware that connects to your Wi-Fi router and comes with comprehensive, age-based, customizable time limits for popular apps, giving parents guidelines for where their kids should be, but allowing them to easily adjust settings to their preferences from a companion app. The company’s partnership with the children’s entertainment giant also gives users access to a vast library of Disney content. Like Torch, this $99 device won’t work on devices outside the home, but the company just introduced Circle Go, a subscription-based tie-in that can control your devices anywhere, for $9.95/month (iOS only).
One of the most all-encompassing options on the market, Screen (available on pre-order for $99, discounted from $139) is a small device that connects to your TV and can control your kids’ devices inside and outside the home. In addition to providing you with real-time data, the app can locate and control any family device remotely. It also works on TV-linked video game consoles like Xbox, Wii, and PlayStation.
Glued: Gamifying Screen Time
This app, which costs between $3.99-$5.99/month and $29.99-$49.99/year based on your service package, turns screen time into a game the family plays together. Parents can set time limits for the device or certain apps, and kids collect points by spending time outside and on apps designated positive, or by stopping short of their daily limits. Parents can track themselves as well and compete alongside the kids.
The Verdict
Every family experiences screen overload and the prevalence of all these screens is as new to us as it is to our children. We’ll continue to debate the ethics and utility of all these monitors and controls. There will always be parents who cross the line between protecting and over-controlling. There will also always be parents who won’t allow children to try things and make their own mistakes while navigating the new online landscape. And there will always be determined kids who will eventually find ways to bypass whatever we put in their path as evidenced by this young boy’s note.
Now, more than ever tools like screen time monitors can be part of a solution. They’re easier and more reliable, and can work across a number of screens. Just remember to couple the tools with a good conversation, teachable moments and an understanding that parents are often as guilty as their kids when it comes to screen overload.
Robin Raskin is founder of Living in Digital Times (LIDT), a team of technophiles who bring together top experts and the latest innovations that intersect lifestyle and technology. LIDT produces conferences and expos at CES and throughout the year focusing on how technology enhances every aspect of our lives through the eyes of today’s digital consumer.