Asma Balfaqih
Family and home
The screen and the reading hour
I am often asked how much screen time is right. A general number is difficult, because every family lives differently. I find another question more useful: what is left out while the screen is on?
A simple rule has proved itself in our home. The screen never takes the place of reading aloud, at most it comes before it. First the ten minutes with the book, afterwards perhaps something else. The order decides more than the number of minutes.
It also helps to watch together and to talk about it afterwards, just like about a book. A child that is allowed to tell what it has seen processes it better. And parents quickly notice which content makes those conversations easy and which does not.