Being present and viewing media together is another one. Screen quality matters. Familiarity with the characters and stories also comes in handy when reinforcing lessons or new words, and they can also provide ideas for real-life activities.
PARENTS, CHECK YOUR BEHAVIOUR TOO
My personal approach has also been to help my children learn to self-regulate. Growing up as a latchkey kid of the 90s, the television was freely accessible. Boring free-to-air programming was the natural regulator.
But with video platforms serving up content optimised to enthrall and keep them hooked, self-regulation becomes a necessary skill to learn. When my children request screen time, they are asked to set their own limit on the number of videos to watch, after which the expectation is that they turn it off without prompting.
No, it doesn’t work all the time. But when prompted to act again, they almost always choose to turn the device off themselves than let me do it. I like to think this gives them a sense of agency, and they seem more ready to self-engage thereafter.
Things can only get worse as my children grow up, start asking for a personal device and enter the age where they are most susceptible to the dangers of social media.
And I’m cognisant that I won’t look credible from where they are standing: I stare at a screen for work in a job that thrives on others staring at their screens, and pull out a different screen for leisure.
“Mama, can you put down your phone and play with me?” My daughter called me out the other night. Clearly, I’ll have to work on myself too – but let me be the judge of that.
Charlene Tan is a senior editor at CNA Digital where she oversees commentaries.
