Category: Well-Being

In today’s society, it’s pretty widely accepted (and expected) to see kids and teenagers with their eyes glued to a screen. As kids get older, the need for phones, tablets, and other digital devices increases. However, that often leads to debates on whether that increased screen time is a good thing or not.

The average 8- to 12-year-old spends 4 to 6 hours a day watching screens, while teenagers spend up to 9 hours.

Some screen time might be necessary for school and other extracurricular activities. However, if you’re a parent, you know that the majority of that time is spent interacting with friends, scrolling through social media, and watching videos.

So, is increased screen time really all that bad? Are there any potential benefits to consider? Let’s cover some of the pros and cons so you can decide the best screen time solutions for your family.

Pro: Boosted Communication Skills

One of the biggest benefits of screen time is that it can improve your child’s communication skills. Over 10% of children have some type of communication disorder. Others might just be shy or have a hard time putting themselves out there in social situations.

Kids and teens often feel “safer” behind screens. Whether they’re texting, using social media, or even gaming, it provides a comfortable environment for them to open up and be themselves. While it’s still important to set boundaries and ensure they’re getting real-world interaction, communicating on digital devices can teach them important skills they can use in face-to-face settings.

Con: Vision Concerns

It probably doesn’t come as a surprise that spending hours a day looking at a screen can be harmful to your eyes. If you’ve ever spent a prolonged period of time staring at a computer screen, you’ve likely experienced computer vision syndrome. The same syndrome can occur when you’re spending too much time looking at a phone or tablet.

This type of vision syndrome can cause:

• Eyestrain
• Fatigue
• Dry eyes
• Headaches

There are things you can do to safeguard visual development in your child.   One is to  offer to your kids and teens to help prevent the strain often caused by screens, including blue light glasses.

Whether your kids already wear prescription glasses or not, blue light glasses use lenses meant to filter the “damaging” light that emanates from digital devices. It reduces eye strain and can help to prevent headaches. If your kids are complaining about headaches or tiredness, the best thing you can do is reduce their screen time and encourage other activities.

Even if your kids feel tired or like they can’t keep their eyes open, too much screen time can also make it difficult for your child to sleep at night. This is largely due to that same damaging blue light, but it also has to do with stimulation.

Most kids using digital devices are either interacting with friends or looking at pictures or videos. That sends signals to the brain that it’s time to “stay awake.”  A good rule of thumb is to cut off screens at least an hour before your child goes to bed.

Pro: Good Content Promotes Positivity

One of the biggest issues parents can face with screen time is the type of content their kids are viewing. If your child is watching videos or playing games on their phone all day, it can contribute to a sedentary lifestyle, which can cause health issues and lead to obesity.

However, if you monitor the content they’re viewing and encourage positive platforms, you can actually promote learning, boost their creativity, and improve their problem-solving skills. Watching TV can also be an alternataive to provide balance for your kids who are always watching small screens in close proximity to their eyes.

Good quality content should always promote positivity and healthy messages, including things like taking care of physical health, getting along with family members, and sharing. Good content should also encourage kids to spend time away from their screens. Look for shows or games that teach kids how to do an activity or craft. They’ll learn through the content, then step away from the device to take action.

Some content can even encourage physical activity. There are plenty of videos and apps designed to help kids get moving.

This point could also be a “con,” if your child is looking at the wrong kind of content.

As a parent, the best thing you can do is to monitor what they’re viewing on a regular basis. Set security limits on all digital devices in the house, and encourage your kids to use those devices in “common areas” like the living room or kitchen, rather than in their rooms. Additionally, make sure they know how to stay safe online and explain the risks.

As you can see, increased screen time isn’t all bad. When you have healthy boundaries in place and your kids are involved in other activities, spending some time on digital devices can actually be beneficial. Consider these pros and cons as you set limits on your kids’ screen time, and consider whether it’s helping or hurting them.

About the Author
Katie Brenneman is a passionate writer specializing in education, mental health, family lifestyle and online safety. When she isn’t writing, you can find her with her nose buried in a book or hiking with her dog, Charlie. You can follow her on Twitter.

If you have a child with a speech disorder or impairment, speech therapy involves assessing and treating all types of speech disorders and communication problems.  Speech therapists use a variety of techniques like language intervention and articulation therapy activities.

Speech conditions range from articulation delays to complex disorders like down syndrome, autism, motor speech disorders, hearing impairment, and other developmental problems that affect children.

Speech-language pathology meets the child where they are according to their individual issues.  While the main goals of a speech therapist is to improve communication, there are other benefits that help children in a number of ways.

If you’re unsure whether speech therapy is suitable for your kid, here are five benefits you should to know:

1. Enhanced Articulation Skills

One of the benefits speech therapy offers kids who need it is enhanced articulation skills. In speech, articulation refers to a child’s ability to move their lips, tongue, palate, and jaw to produce speech sounds or phonemes.

Speech issues have a lifelong negative effect and should be addressed immediately. If you have a kid that has a speech disorder, his articulation skills may be compromised due to decreased intelligibility if no speech therapy is offered. Intelligibility refers to people’s understanding of your child’s speech.

Getting a speech therapist to help your kid develop articulation skills can ensure that he produces sound patterns or speech sounds in a way that increases intelligibility in the future.

2. Improved Expressive Language

Although speech is primarily involved in developing a person’s motor ability to speak, language is more symbolic of rules used to pass a message. Symbols can include words that are either written or spoken. They may also include the use of gestures like waving to mean ‘bye bye’, shoulder shrugging to mean ‘I don’t know,’ or raising eyebrows to communicate surprise.

Hiring a speech therapist can help children with speech disorders learn new words, and combine them to form sentences and phrases. This enables children to communicate better with you and other people.

3. Develop Receptive Skills

Another benefit of speech therapy for kids is the development of receptive or listening skills. Speech therapists work with kids to improve their receptive language to listen and understand better. In many cases, kids have a strong sense of what they understand but struggle with expressive language.

If your child struggles with receptive and expressive language, a speech therapist can help him overcome this challenge. Speech therapists do this by teaching them new vocabulary and showing them how to apply it when answering questions, following directions, and engaging in simple conversations.

4. Reduced Stuttering

Some kids develop stuttering during childhood. Stuttering is a common speech disorder that affects kids’ speech fluency. Often, this disorder is characterized by a broken speech flow known as disfluencies. Although every person experience disfluency in speech at one time or another, too many disfluencies can affect one’s ability to communicate effectively.

Primary indicators of stuttering that may require the help of a speech therapist include prolongations, repetitions, blocks, and interjections. Some secondary behaviors may also be present in severe stuttering cases. These include tension in the face, chest, jaw, neck, and shoulders.

People with severe stuttering conditions may also flare their nose, blink their eyes and perform odd facial movements. Further, they may experience extraordinary motor movement with their upper and lower limbs, like stomping their feet and clenching their fists.

Whether your kid shows mild or severe stuttering behavior, working with a speech therapist can help them develop strategies for controlling such behavior in a way that enhances speech intelligibility and fluency.

5. Reduce Voice Hoarseness

The other benefit that speech therapy could offer kids is reducing voice hoarseness caused by voice disorders. In most cases, kids experience hoarseness, a voice disorder that results from vocal abuses that damage or strain their vocal folds.

Vocal abuse includes habits like yelling, coughing, excessive talking, and throat clearing. Speech therapy enables kids to repair damaged or weakened vocal folds while helping them reduce practices relating to vocal abuse. Moreover, speech therapy can help kids improve voice quality by addressing sound vibration in the nasal, oral, and pharyngeal cavities.

Final Thoughts and Resources

Speech therapy is an effective way of treating speech disorders in children. Everyday speech disorders that affect kids in their childhood include poor articulation, hoarseness of voice, stuttering, and receptive language. This will more than likely bring increased anxiety.

If these disorders are left unaddressed, the ability of your child to communicate effectively in the future may be affected. If you think your kid suffers from a speech disorder or impairment, engaging a speech therapist can help him overcome the challenge and communicate better as he grows up.

Explore this guide on speech pronunciation for kids, provided by Maryville University.  The guide provides detailed insights and resources on the following topics:

• Types of Speech Disorders
• Activities Parents Can Use to Teach Pronunciation
• Helpful Tools and Professional Speech Therapy
• Meeting Speech Pronunciation Goals for Kids and more

Explore Additional Resources on this website:

• The pros and cons of online speech therapy for kids
• The benefits of text to speech readers

Training your child how to swim is something you should consider doing. Yes, it can be challenging, but it is worth all the effort. Your kids can learn how swim from you or enroll them in swimming classes as early as when they are toddlers.

The earlier you can teach your child to swim, the better they get at it as they grow. There are several benefits of teaching your child how to swim early. This article reviews why swimming is beneficial to your child.

Swimming builds a child’s confidence.

It is common for children to be fearful of the water when swimming for the first time. Taking their first dip in the pool is often an unforgettable memory for most kids. However, after several trips to the beach or pool, kids eventually overcome their fears and learn how to swim. After learning how to swim, the feelings of accomplishment help build self-esteem and overall confidence in children.

What’s more, the self-esteem your kids gain from swimming can help them develop a positive attitude towards sports and other physical activities. Even better, the confidence your kids gain from overcoming their fear of water becomes helpful in social interactions later in life.

Enhances water safety

Swimming is an essential life skill everyone should know, including your little one. Reports from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that drowning is a major cause of death in children less than five years. Therefore, the most appropriate way to curb this menace is equipping your child with swimming skills. The best way how to teach kids to swim is by enrolling them in swimming classes.

Children who receive formal swimming lessons can overcome their fear of being in and around water much quicker. Besides that, they are taught water safety rules and techniques such as floating and treading in water and various swimming strokes. Formal swimming classes equip children with life-saving skills such as first aid and CPR. With regular practice, all these skills mold your child into a strong and efficient swimmer; therefore, you don’t need to panic whenever they are around water.

Swimming is good for your kid’s health.

Swimming is an excellent way to keep your kids healthy and active all year long. The gentle body movements involved in swimming are beneficial to toddlers and infants. The water resistance they overcome when swimming helps in boosting muscle development. Swimming involves many muscle groups that you don’t engage when out of water. Swimming gives kids a whole-body exercise in a way not possible with other workout routines.

Swimming is an excellent physical exercise for kids because it is primarily impact-free, significantly reducing the risk of injury. Swimming at an early age strengthens joint muscles and helps to reduce joint stiffness. The endurance, confidence, and muscle strength your kids gain from swimming will come in handy when they try field and track events like soccer and athletics.

What’s more, swimming improves your kid’s cardiovascular health. The movements involved in swimming require the coordination of the lungs and heart to supply adequate oxygen and nutrients to the different muscle groups. Swimming regularly helps keep artery walls flexible and in good shape leading to improved blood flow throughout the body.

Improves memory and coordination

Introducing your kids to swimming at an early age is a great way to help them build balance and body coordination. Swimming often requires the coordination of many body organs during stroking movements. Water exercises enable kids and infants to develop balance without straining the body.

The extensive range of motions involved in swimming will help to improve joint mobility and flexibility in children. Your kid will learn how to maintain position using the buoyancy of water. Besides improving coordination, swimming enhances posture and reduces the chances of obesity in kids. Swimming lessons are also accessible for children with special needs.

Swimming also boosts a child’s mental development by enhancing the brain parts associated with learning, coordination, and memory. Your kids learning abilities improve as they master freestyle, butterfly, backstroke, and breaststroke swimming techniques. This mental development can lead to better performance in school.

Bottom line

Now that you know the benefits of teaching your kids how to swim, it’s time you get started on those classes. Learning how to swim is something your children will cherish and utilize all their life.

What Should You Look For In A Swim Coach?

Anxiety is one of the most common mental health disorders in children. It can manifest itself and often makes it difficult for kids to focus on schoolwork or enjoy social activities. If your child has anxiety, it’s tough to know how to help them. Luckily, there are a few strategies that have been effective in calming anxious children.

Take a Walk Outside

One of the most effective ways to calm your child down is by taking them outdoors for a walk. It would help if you chose an outside environment with plenty of natural light. Fresh air isn’t stimulating with lots of stimuli or noise. Children enjoy walks through forests and grassy fields. Also, along beaches with calming sounds like water from rivers flowing into lakes or waves crashing on shores. These outdoor settings often help kids relax without being distracted by electronics. These can trigger unwanted stressors if they feel overwhelmed while trying not to be anxious during playtime at home.

Draw or Write

When kids are feeling anxious, one way to help them calm down is to do some creative activities, like drawing or writing. This can be a great way for children to express their feelings and work through any worries. Not only does this activity help with anxiety, but it’s also been shown to improve focus and concentration skills.

There are many ways to encourage your child to engage in creative writing or artwork. Some parents find it helpful to provide prompts for their kids. “For instance, draw a picture of what makes you happy” or “write about a time when you felt confident.” If your child enjoys reading, there are plenty of books for children dealing with anxiety and depression.

Listen to Music

Another great way for anxious kids is listening to calming music. You can find a lot of songs that are specifically designed with relaxation in mind, such as classical or jazz tunes. These have been shown to reduce stress levels and help people feel more at ease. Listening may also be beneficial because children can express their emotions through the lyrics.

If you’re not sure where to start, there are many compilation albums of relaxing music designed for kids. You can also search online for lists of recommended songs or create a personalized playlist with your child. It’s important to make sure that the music is at a low volume so that it doesn’t become overwhelming and further stimulates any anxious feelings.

Some parents find it helpful to have their children listen to music before bedtime, as it can help them calm down and fall asleep more easily. Try different calming activities until you find what works best to help your anxious child feel better.

Mindfulness Meditation

This is another great way to help children relax and cope with anxiety. It’s important because it teaches them how they can focus their thoughts on the present moment. But also because it reduces stress levels by helping kids focus less on things like schoolwork or social issues. The best part about practicing mindfulness techniques at home, though? Many apps available today make this type of activity fun and easy. You don’t even have to go outside; sit cross-legged wherever you feel most comfortable. Close your eyes while listening as an instructor guides you through different exercises.

There are also several unique books that you can check out from your local library on mindfulness meditation for kids. These usually have accompanying audio CDs so that children can practice along with an adult’s voice. Mindfulness mediation is one activity that should be practiced regularly when helping kids with anxiety. Thus, to see the best results, aim for at least 15-20 minutes per day.

Sensory Play

Another great way to help kids with anxiety is by engaging them in sensory play. Sensory play allows the child’s mind to get some relief from all this stimulation. This is because they aren’t focusing so much attention on their environment. But using other senses such as touch or smell may calm those jittery feelings caused by overstimulation. Children also love things like slime and water beads. Both provide tactile sensory input while being fun activities at home too.  And finally, there are our tried and true stuffed animal friends that provide comfort because they look like animals and are was soft as a pillow.

Conclusion

If your child is struggling with anxiety, don’t worry. There are ways you can help. No matter what age they may be at—preschool or elementary school-aged kids all need support when trying something new, so never give up hope. Remember that every child is different. Some children respond better to one calming strategy than another, depending on their individual needs and personality traits. Try these strategies today to help anxious children feel calmer at home.