It's been up for debate for the last couple of decades. As soon as screens became available to the masses, it felt like parents immediately had a struggle on their hands, not letting their children be glued solely to screens for hours on end.
While the platforms and games may change, the problem remains. Gone are the days of children logging on to Myspace and MSN for endless hours every night, now their attention has fallen to games such as Fortnite and Minecraft.
If we add the accessibility of YouTube into the mix with its promise of endless content, the battle to keep the kids away from being in front of screens seems to be quite the uphill battle.
Some of us vowed that we would rue the day we’d see our kids with their nose buried in a screen while for others, a screen is a welcome distraction to entertain the children for five minutes whilst we have a chance to breathe.
You're certainly not alone if you've struggled to prize those sticky little fingers off of a screen, we've all been there.
Screen time is often portrayed as being one of the worst things for your child but this can absolutely be disputed if we’re talking about the difference between passive screen time and active screen time (there is a difference, trust us).
Sitting back, mindlessly scrolling on platforms such as TikTok, consuming endless content is an example of an unhealthy approach to time in front of a screen. This is when children's wellbeing can be compromised as well as their learning.
Speaking on this topic, the experts at online tutoring service, Maths-Whizz, said: "Not all screen time is bad because not all screen time is created equal, especially when it comes to learning.
"Yes, it is true that excessive screen time is detrimental to your children’s physical and mental health. There is a crucial distinction, however, between passive and active screen time."
Well-regulated use of technology has shown that it can improve learning outcomes in addition to refining children’s social and emotional wellbeing.
For many it would be the dream scenario if your child was finetuning their learning at the same time as developing those all important lasting friendships.
One such example of a platform promising positive active screen time is Math-Whizz’s virtual tutoring programme. It is designed to deliver maximum teaching and learning for children without them spending entire evenings gazing at a screen.
Maths-Whizz added: "Children who spend one hour a week on the Maths-Whizz virtual tutor acquire eighteen months’ worth of knowledge, on average, in a year."
That leaves plenty of other time in the week for other aspects of learning as well as some downtime. All thanks to less than ten minutes per day spent exploring on the platform.
We know that children will sometimes simply not do what they don’t want to do but a negotiation with your children could also work. Think swapping out 20 minutes of gaming for 20 minutes of the tutoring platform or giving them their favourite snack if they successfully spend some time engaging with Maths-Whizz every evening for a week.
It only takes 60 minutes of Maths-Whizz quality learning each week to supercharge your child’s maths skills.
Screens are certainly not something that should be feared but it’s unwise to let your child use them without checks and balance. As with most things in life, they are best used in moderation.
Maths-Whizz however only costs you the same price as one fancy coffee per week and promises to help your child's academic mathematical development.
