Grandparents Are Spoiling Kids With Screen Time
Grandparents Are Spoiling Kids With Screen Time
July 11, 2019
New York Post – Grandma and Grandpa used to spoil kids with candy—now they spoil them with video screen time, according to a new study.
Couch-potato tots are getting away with murder at their grandparents’ house—where they spend half of the visit lazing around with a video device, according to a study published this week in the Journal of Children and Media.
Prof. Galit Nimrod
Researchers from Rutgers University and Israel’s Ben-Gurion University, including Prof. Galit Nimrod, a research fellow at BGU’s Center for Multidisciplinary Research in Aging, studied youngsters ages two to seven. They found that during each four-hour visit, kids spent an average of two hours either playing games or watching videos on devices such as tablets, computers and cellphones.
Overall, Grandpa is more of a pushover than Grandma, allowing kids to play with the gadgets for longer periods of time. This is based on 356 adults who reported taking care of their grandkids at least once a week.
The study also shows that boys spent more time on screens than girls, roughly 17 minutes more per visit.
On average, children ages six to seven used video devices the most, while kids two to three used them the least.
The researchers suggested grandparents set rules such as limiting screen time to one hour and forbidding it during meals and before bedtime.
“Grandparents play a significant role in raising their grandchildren. We need to educate them about the impact of media on children’s lives and on proper use that will benefit the well-being of their grandchildren,” says Dafna Lemish, who co-authored the study.
The researchers concluded, “These findings raise concerns regarding young children’s media use under their grandparents’ watch.”
Read more on the New York Post website >>
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