Gabby Mag

Screen Time

If you're shopping for presents to put under the tree for the children in your life, consider buying something that's not digital. Experts say that interacting with buttons and screens too often may mean that life skills are not being developed.

Seeing the world through a screen isn't enough, studies say, and may have long-term effects that we haven't yet contemplated in so many areas, including health and wellness, sociability, coping/managing/capability skills and on the creative imagination and  professional/career development. Buy trkes and balls and sleds to get them outside and see the world as it happens and promote interactions with friends and a social circle. They're all going to grow up to be more electronics-savvy than we are or any previous generation—but if they are not comfy with everyday real life and people or new situations as they happen in the actual world, but only with virtual reality, they may not be equipped to respond or succeed.

Early Childhood News, a  professional resource for teachers and parents, offers tips to get the kids outside.

The Daily Green from Good Housekeeping reports that most spend an average of 55 hours a week indoors using electronics. That's bad!