22 mars 2023
Physical inactivity, sleep time, mental health… Without blaming them for all the evils, screens are regularly blamed for their negative effects on the lives of teenagers. And, very often, their parents… Here are some suggestions for collectively putting screens back in their rightful place.
It does not only provide advice to help us eat our 5 fruits and vegetables a day and achieve our daily quota of physical activity. The National Health Nutrition Program (PNNS) – via its website Mangerbouger.fr – also gives advice to reduce screen time for teenagers, and also for parents.
How ? With a little will and a lot of common sense. For example, start by activating the features present in most smartphones, which allow you to indicate the time spent on it each day, to program an alert following a certain duration and to deactivate notifications. It is already a first step.
Of course, if all family members play the game, it’s better. And we can make the exercise more difficult by adding a few challenges. For example: reward the family member who has spent the least time on their phone for a whole week, with supporting evidence and a small gift.
Can also “designate together (or draw lots) one “screen-free” day a week when everyone must do a screen-free activity on their way home from school and work: exercise, cook a homemade dish, playing a board game, reading, drawing…”offers the site Mangerbouger.fr.
Set rules (and stick to them)
It is also important to “sacralize” screen-free time: “during homework, meals, before going to bed, at night, during family discussions…”. But also to set a limited time per day, the days of free time. The ideal is to set these rules “at the time of the purchase of the first telephone”. And why not write a contract that the whole family will sign.
And then, what to do with all this free time gained on the phone (the French spend an average of two hours a day online, four among 15-24 year olds, according to a Médiamétrie study published in February)? Again, the site Mangerbouger.fr is full of ideas that are simple and easy to implement.
For example, chat with your teens regarding their interests online “and find alternatives close to what they like, but without a screen”. Fans of online games will be delighted that you are introducing them to “old-fashioned” board games, and those who watch videos of comedians will certainly appreciate attending real shows on stage, and why not make it an extra-curricular activity? Last option: suggest that your teenagers invite their friends to your home, “in real life”. Because if they spend so much time online, it’s mainly on social networks, “a way for them to create and maintain links with their friends”.
