Help! My child is addicted to screens! Yikes.. and maybe so am I..

Screens are everywhere and with the ongoing Pandemic this has only increased as we are all working from home, ordering groceries online, doing Apero’s over zoom, FaceTiming friends and family and homeschooling our children. We cannot imagine our world anymore without screens and all the advantages they bring us.

I know there are families that have embraced all forms of screens and electronics and proudly (and apparently limitless) use all of them. There are families that are super strict with electronic devices, no phones, no tablets, sometimes even no TV. What is normal and healthy? Should we all detox from our screens or accept it as normal in these times? What is best? What is right? Or is there something in the middle?

Being a mum of three children myself, I know what the challenges can be, especially as they get older and simply saying no or not having them in the house doesn’t seem to be realistic anymore. But if you are a bit like me, you get worried about it every now and then. Are they spending too much time on a screen? Am I too strict or too relaxed? How do other parents handle this?

Sorry to disappoint you all now already, I don’t have the “right” answer either, I am not even sure if the right answer exists. But I do know that electronics are here to stay and that the Positive Discipline tools can help you to manage your family’s screen time and to find that middle ground that works for you and your family. Instead of going to the extremes of permissiveness and control, Positive Discipline teaches a balance of kindness and firmness at the same time. The middle ground for electronics is to know when and how to appreciate them, as well as when and how to make sure that kids learn and practice social graces. Also, once decided where your boundaries lie when it comes to screens en devices, how to guard that boundary with kindness and firmness. How to find solutions for challenges encountered along the way and how to balance this in a problem-solving way rather than a getting into a conflict.

Take a look here for the new dates added for a live, interactive and online workshop on this topic (and yes, it is on a screen, oh… the irony of things…). Sign up by e-mailing me on jasperine.groeneveld@assk.info or click the button sign me up. Costs are CHF 45,- or Euro 40,-.