10 Mar How much screen time is too much for kids?

How much screen time is too much for kids?

I know this is a contentious issue for most families out there, but I am struggling to contain my contempt for gaming with my children. We have a rule in our house that between the hours of 11am to 5pm they are not allowed to game. The fights we’ve had about this subject is endless.

I understand that the ‘new generation’ of youngest are on their screens far more than we are, but it doesn’t make it any easier knowing that they are wasting away hours playing fortnite, watching utube videos, instagram etc when they could be outside playing cricket, or seeing their friends vs gaming with them. I can’t preach to much on the subject as I am blogging and instagramming for my new venture but please tell me I’m not going mad when I lose the plot.

I feel that the new rule has worked but as soon as they are off the gaming its straight onto their phones or tablets. Both my boys are away at school so weekends are extremely precious to me and the minimum amount of time that I do have with them at home, I want to talk to them.
I am probably naive thinking that they want to talk about what they’ve got up to during the week, most teenagers don’t even want to talk to their parents.

I’m lucky I suppose that they’re not prowling the streets getting up to no good, they prefer to be at home and I know this won’t last, so maybe I should be happy that they are here with me, albeit in body and not mind. I know I am slightly old fashioned and conversation is a dead art (well to the younger generation that is) but am I being too hard on them? It’s something that I will try and understand that maybe they are learning from what they are watching versus controlling there every minute at home. We are a work in progress here, I’ll keep you posted how we get on. X