Ways to reduce your child's screen time
                     Ways to Reduce Your Child’s Screen Time
  
  Uma Bharati
  Writes articles for Gurucool.fun, on topics like
  Indian culture for kids and Indian culture for children.
In recent times, one of the biggest problems for children is screen addiction. 
Although the term itself gives a hint of the meaning, many parents fail to 
understand what screen addiction is. It is a condition where children are too 
engrossed in screens all the time. Eventually, the kids reach a point where 
they lose themselves in the screens and feel like nothing else would be 
enough to keep them happy. This is undoubtedly a dangerous condition for a 
small child, as the psychological impact would affect them deeply.
In the past, the problem mostly involved the addiction of children towards 
televisions. However, the problem has intensified due to the easy availability 
of smartphones. When children stay addicted to smartphones, it hampers 
their relationship with their families. In a way, the kids start to enter a cocoon, 
and conflicts begin to arise.
Reducing the addiction: How to go about it?
Here are a few tips on how you can reduce your children’s addiction to 
screens:
• Outdoor games: Firstly, you would have to get your children interested in 
something enjoyable to make them give up some of their screen time. The 
best way to go about it is to have them involved in sports. If your child 
seems uninterested in sports, look for other outdoor activities that he/she 
might be interested in. Participating in sports would not only reduce their 
screen time but also help them develop various key skills.
• Teach them about balance: It wouldn’t work if you simply instructed your 
children to stay away from smartphones. It is natural for kids to try to 
work around restrictions and do exactly what you ask them not to. 
Instead, explain the importance of balance to them. Teach them about the 
values of physical activities and face-to-face conversations.
• Activity kits: Various activity kits can keep your children engaged. Through 
activity kits, you may expose your children to our culture and festivals. 
Storytelling is a great way to entertain children as well. Especially if your 
children are young, you might want to spend some time reading out 
stories to them. The questions that would arise in their minds would 
facilitate critical thinking and learning. It is also a great way to enjoy a fun 
family evening.
• Other hobbies: Children who have hobbies like drawing, painting, dancing, 
puzzles, etc. are less likely to stay addicted to screens all the time. You may 
incentivize them by rewarding them for performing well in their hobbies.
• Household activities: Spending some time of the day on household 
activities would help your children develop a better sense of discipline, 
cleanliness, time management, and self-sufficiency. Working on household 
chores with your children is also a great way to form good bonding with 
them.
• Break the routine: Generally, children seem to be particularly attracted to 
screens at a certain time of the day. Try to find when this ‘screen time’ is 
for your child and break the routine by getting them engaged in other 
activities at that time.
Your children would not lose the addiction overnight. However, their 
attraction towards screens would decrease over time, and eventually they 
would be free of the addiction. 
About Gurucool
Gurucool conceptualises and creates exciting games and activity kits for 
introducing positive values to children in a way they would appreciate & 
remember them. Our objective is to inspire young minds with ancient Indian 
wisdom in a fun way. We work hard to deliver the feel of Indian culture in a 
dynamic & interesting way it deserves to be learnt in to today’s kids.
Thank you for your precious time in reading this Article