For parents, I would encourage them to think less about the time spent online and more about life offline. Are your kids getting their homework done, getting plenty of sleep, seeing friends in person, doing physical exercise, taking trips to a natural environment or doing cultural activities? If so, I don't think we need to worry about how much time they spend online.
The one area of society which needs to pay more attention to internet use is government, which needs to work more closely with industry to make sure they are protecting young people from harmful content and from those who want to take advantage of them.
Traditional Vietnamese parenting styles often emphasise discipline and control. When managing screen time, how can parents and kids find common ground?
Traditional Vietnamese parenting uses an authoritarian style. It's focused on teaching rules and norms to children and making sure they behave in an orderly way. While there is evidence this can be positive in certain cultural contexts, it may not always be best once the children have been exposed to modern or Westernised culture online.
In Western culture, the ideal form of parenting tends to be seen as authoritative (or assertive) parenting. This keeps the emphasis on rules and boundaries, but it also acknowledges the importance of emotions and feelings.
The rules are not imposed on children without discussion or possibility of change, but negotiated with them (at least in the details), allowing for flexibility and exceptions. For instance, if a child is allowed thirty minutes of game play on a school night, they may be allowed more if they finish their homework and chores early.
The advice for parents would be to talk to your child about their online activities, come to a shared understanding of what is good and bad, and negotiate a set of rules and exceptions to govern their behaviour online. Of course, you should take the lead in that process as the parent, but they should feel they have input too.
You should emphasise that there are both positive and "time-wasting" things to do online. Give them time to relax through playing games or social networks, but more as a reward after they do something positive online first, like learning a language, researching an assignment, or talking with older relatives.
As a developmental psychologist, I think rather than worrying about screen time having negative effects, let's make sure our children are getting many positive experiences growing up.
Story: Ngoc Hoang
Masthead image: insta_photos – stock.adobe.com
