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Tired of struggling to get your child to spend less time on screens and more time doing what you think they should be with their time? All parents have been there at some point, but one dad seems to have come up with a pretty good way to deal with it and he’s going viral for sharing it on TikTok.
Richard Wadsworth, a psychiatrist and father of seven, recently posted a video of his teen son lifting weights and telling him that he woke up at 6:30 in the morning to get his sweat sesh in before school. The thing is, he’s not forcing his kid to get up early to exercise, it’s just one of the things he has to do before he’s allowed any screen time. Wadsworth explains that he has a checklist that his kids need to complete before they get their phone or tablet, which includes:
Clean their room - “All clothes in drawers or hung up. No garbage. Bed made. Toys put away”
Do their chore
Homework or read for at least 15 minutes
Exercise - Walk, run or jog a mile on the treadmill, or another workout like basketball, climbing or lifting weights for 20 minutes
Be ready for the next day - “Lunch made, shoes, jacket located in proper place for the next day”
Toilets - “Are the toilets in the house flushed?”
Laundry - “Is your laundry done?”
So the choice is up to the kids, if they want screen time, they know exactly what’s expected of them before they get it. Wadsworth points out that screen use is linked with increased rates of depression and anxiety in kids, so keeping a close eye on your kids’ screen use and having clear rules is a good thing. “We should not be giving our kids unlimited access to screens,” he explains. “Just as you would regulate the amount of candy and sugar that they ate, hopefully, you should also be regulating the amount of screen time that they have.”