Developing Middle Schoolers Healthy Use of Screen Time

One of the most controversial aspects of educating middle schoolers is their use of screen time. Thirty years ago, no one had this problem. Kids played outside and got into trouble in other ways while they were out exploring the world. Today, millions of kids are spending thousands of hours in front of a screen. 

Is all of that screen time beneficial? Certainly not all of it. To say that most of that time was being used advantageously would be a stretch, and yet, the demand for screen time persists. While it is unclear what the future holds, the fact that an excess of unproductive screen time is potentially damaging to students is abundantly clear. 

Parents and educators need a way to make screen time healthier for their children and students, respectively. This guide will outline tips and suggestions leading to a world in which middle schoolers are making a healthy use of screen time rather than an unhealthy one.

What Is Screen Time?

First of all, if you have not heard the term screen time, it is time to get acquainted with it, especially if you have children. Screen time refers to the time that people spend in front of a screen, literally. 

Every hour that your child is staring at their smartphone or at the TV or a computer screen is known as screen time. While some screen time can be beneficial, excessive amounts of it can be ruinous. 

The more that children learn, the more successful they will be as adults. Excessive amounts of unproductive screen time can affect this progression and even disrupt it. This happens when middle schoolers are staring at a screen for hours on end without learning anything useful. 

Why Screen Time Cannot Be Avoided in Today’s World

In the early 1990s, it was possible to ignore things like screen time. It was much easier before advances in computing, technology, and smartphones spearheaded the way into a brand new age. 

Today, it is almost impossible to limit screen time completely. As strongly as you may feel about the evils of children staring at a screen for hours on end, it can’t be avoided any longer. 

While the whole point of limiting a child’s amount of screen time is meant to strengthen their education, it has now become necessary to incorporate a certain amount of screen time. Children that are deprived of screen time completely will fall behind. The future is here, and it isn’t slowing down any time soon. 

Here’s what you need to know about screen time and how middle schoolers should be using it to strengthen their minds. 

Healthy Uses for Screen Time 

While it has become virtually impossible to limit middle schoolers’ screen time completely, it is entirely possible to focus on making sure that their screen time is both healthy and beneficial.  

There are all kinds of ways to make screen time healthy and beneficial for middle schoolers. All you need to do is make sure that their screen time is educational.

Educational screen time doesn’t have to be boring. There are hundreds of engaging learning games, puzzles, and documentaries that can revolutionize a child’s education. There are dozens of fun and educational shows on Hulu that are perfect for middle schoolers! 

Documentaries are particularly important. Instead of letting middle schoolers watch 7 hours of Power Rangers, you can easily persuade them to watch engaging and educational documentaries instead. 

For example, during Thanksgiving, you can choose to let middle schoolers watch more TV as long as it is about the history of the Thanksgiving holiday. You can further their education by encouraging them to watch additional documentaries on almost any subject imaginable. 

Try starting them off with something simple like a documentary about the pilgrims and Indians during Thanksgiving and then turn them onto something about the American Revolution, Civil War, etc. 

Another great program to have middle schoolers watch is Modern Marvels, which can teach children all kinds of things about exciting engineering projects. The key is to instill children with a sense of discovery. 

When it comes to video games, you will be happy to hear that there is a wide variety of educational games that can teach middle schoolers anything from mathematics to science and social studies. 

Finding the Balance

At the end of the day, the key to developing middle schoolers’ healthy use of screen time is to find balance. Flooding them with hundreds of hours of educational content won’t help them, it will bore them and encourage them to stop paying attention.

Just like adults need a way to unwind at the end of a long hard work week, kids need a respite as well. Just make an effort to even things out by letting them play a non-violent video game every once and a while to break things up. 

Although it has been said that learning is its reward, kids need more than that.