{"id":17559,"date":"2020-11-16T11:01:49","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T03:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=17559"},"modified":"2021-06-23T15:24:29","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T07:24:29","slug":"screen-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2020\/11\/screen-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Screen Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Parents struggle to control children\u2019s use of electronic devices during lockdowns.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Charleen Chen in Hsinchu<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not easy for Kyra Kuo, a mother of two, to take care of a 2-year-old son, Enzo, and a 10-month-old baby. Anti-COVID19 measures such as class suspension make it even more challenging for Kuo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI gave up strict control over Enzo\u2019s television time, because I was just too busy,\u201d Kuo, a Taiwanese blogger and housewife, who is now living in the Netherlands after spending five years in Singapore, recalls. \u201cI literally handled the baby and Enzo 24\/7 with no breaks during the lockdown,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schools were shut down from March till June in Singapore in 2020 when the country was under lockdown. Enzo, Kuo\u2019s 2-year-old son had to stay at home, as his kindergarten closed.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Longer Screen Time Under Lockdown<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEnzo watched television for roughly one hour [every day] during the lockdown,\u201d Kuo recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The kindergarten pupil used to only watch 15 minutes television every day and do outdoor activities such as picnicking and playing at parks. The family also took him to the zoos and aquariums on weekends before the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The toddler\u2019s television time jumped four times after the world has been affected by the pandemic. His mind sometimes went blank after watching television for an hour. \u201cHe sometimes threw temper tantrums when I turned off the television,\u201d Kuo says. \u201cWhen staying indoor for so long, it was very hard to keep my elder son away from the electronic devices during the pandemic,\u201d Kuo adds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen staying indoor for so long, it was hard to keep my son away from the electronic devices.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Wang Chun-ping, a Taiwanese blogger who has been living in France for over 10 years, encountered similar problems. Her two sons, Alexandre, aged 9, and Andre, aged 6, stayed at home when the country was under lockdown from March to May this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey used electronic devices indeed more often when staying home all day,\u201d Wang says. Apart from having online lessons, the brothers used the devices for games and surfing on the Internet during the lockdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her children used to enjoy going to school and doing outdoor activities such as hiking and swimming. But now they switched to indoor activities such as playing with building blocks and cleaning the garden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur family used to travel a lot. When we couldn\u2019t go out all of a sudden, the boys actually needed some mental preparation,\u201d says Wang. \u201cI explained to them that we must stay indoor because we have to protect ourselves and others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asking for More Cartoons to Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lin Tien-yu, a Chinese teacher in Taiwan, has a daughter, aged 5, and a son, aged 2. Her children used to join many activities such as drawing, sightseeing, and simple DIY projects. But all these activities and their art classes have been cancelled due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey ask if they can watch Disney cartoons more often,\u201d Lin says. Her children used to watch television for 10 to 20 minutes a day. But they now spend more time on television as they have to stay home most of the time and avoid going out to reduce the risk of infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Lin’s children ask to watch Disney cartoons more often during the pandemic.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen the kids watch cartoons, I can take the chance to relax a bit,\u201d Lin says. As working parents, Lin and her husband, an engineer, have become much busier juggling between family and their work, as their children stay home all the time. They cannot let the childrens visit their grandparents as usual to prevent infection. And that deprives the couple of their time to rest. \u201cTheir grandparents used to look after the kids at their place on Saturday afternoon, so my husband and I could rest or go shopping,\u201d Lin says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lin lets her children watch more cartoon. \u201cBut I find the children really are addicted to watching TV,\u201d Lin says. \u201cThey ask for more cartoons and become emotionally unstable. They will throw a tantrum and it is difficult to communicate with them when they cry and act naughty,\u201d Lin adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Search for Solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To reduce screen time for children, parents try hard to think of alternative activities for their kids. Kuo let Enzo make chalk paints on the balcony. The toddler also used boxes to build a 3D parking garage with his father. \u201cEnzo sometimes joined me in cooking dinner and bathing his baby brother. This allowed me to keep him company when doing the chores,\u201d Kuo says. Wang tried reading books and playing board games more with her children to reduce their use of electronic devices during the lockdown. \u201cI also encourged my children to play basketball and clean the yard at home,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, Lin tries to shift her children\u2019s attention away from the cartoons. She purchased teaching packages for her children to make homemade soap, build blocks, and assemble magnetic building toys. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cut Down Screen Time<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cecilia Lam Wing-chi, the professional consultant of the Department of Educational Psychology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, says it is \u201cunavoidable\u201d for children to use electronic devices during the pandemic. \u201cParents should try to minimize their screen time,\u201d she says. Lam suggests 30 minutes per time for primary school children, and 15 minutes for preschoolers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lam thinks that parents should arrange engaging games and activities as alternatives. Toys sets such as Lego, arts and crafts, readings, and family board games are recommended. \u201cFor preschoolers, hands-on toys are more suitable for them,\u201d she says. \u201cParents are encouraged to create toys corners for preschoolers to get them fully engaged,\u201d she adds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Enzo was making chalk paints on the balcony during the lockdown in Singapore. 
(Photo Courtesy of Kyra Kuo)
<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Lam points out that e-learning has positive and negative effects on children. \u201cOn the positive side, children are more comfortable with learning in the virtual classrooms,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince teachers now are making efforts to make online lessons more interactive and engaging, children have fun in learning too,\u201d Lam says. \u201cFor kids who are shy, they feel more comfortable to speak up,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn the other hand, online lessons deprive children of social interactions, like learning the social cues and social positions,\u201d Lam says. Socializing is an important part of children development, when children learn how to form friendships and interact with others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLong period of exposure to screens is bad for their eye sight,\u201d Lam says. \u201cIt provides too much stimulation to children\u2019s physical and mental health. Children tend to get emotionally unstable when stimulated by digital content,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChildren tend to get emotionally unstable 
when stimulated by digital content.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Edited by Emilie Lui<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sub-edited by Howard Li<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Parents struggle to control children\u2019s use of electronic devices during lockdowns.\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":17829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1800,8],"tags":[1537,1536,74,1538,127,176],"class_list":["post-17559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-special-edition","category-our-community","tag-electronicdevices","tag-screentime","tag-children","tag-lockdown","tag-parenting","tag-parents"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17559"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17899,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17559\/revisions\/17899"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}