During quarantine, stores closed and gatherings stopped.
One of the ways youth occupied themselves was on their devices. So, how can youth lower their screen time without reducing it completely?
“There is no question tech can help in many ways. Tech has the power to teach, inform, connect and so much more,” said Everyday Leaders’ Christine McLeod, a local leader and mom of two teens/tweens. “When we all hit lockdown in March, for many it was a bit of a free-for-all until the end of school in June.”
Countless articles talk about eliminating screen time, but there’s not as much talk about optimizing screen time. Optimizing screen time serves as an alternative way to reduce the use of devices. Instead of eliminating screen time, users lower it.
“I do work with social media and teens in many different forms and am passionate about the balancing act,” McLeod said. “It’s bad for your ‘streaks’ but good for your mental health.”
Christine recommends the following tips for optimizing screen time:
*Use the screen time monitoring on your iPhone and simply observe your patterns. Look at the last day, the last week, the last month. What do you notice? What could you tweak?
*Take TikTok off your phone for a week and see if your screen time goes down. It’s one of the most addictive apps and although you may lose your drafts by deleting the app, everything else on your account stays.
*Download the Chrome extension ‘Stayfocused’ on your laptop and add the websites you want to block and for what period (i.e. Instagram block for one hour, or two hours a day maximum).
*Turn off your sound notifications and banners. It’s a normal human reaction to check our phones when we see or hear an alert.
*Take a tech break. Pick one app, like Snapchat and give yourself a day or two without checking it.
“Even before the pandemic locking us all down, teens spent over five hours a day on screens. As we head into the school year, perhaps teens and parents alike can take a fresh approach,” McLeod adds.
Editor’s note: This is part of a Back to School youth pilot project.
We worked with ‘youth’ reporter Grant Boguski to create content geared to young Squamish residents. Let us know what you think of this initiative by writing [email protected].
