Ditch the Screen for a Stick
By Christine Rowe
Limit Screen Time and Take Your Kids Outside
Being present with your child is one of the best things you can do as a parent. In today's modern parenting, one of the greatest challenges for parents today is screen overuse. It’s a barrier to everyone being present. Outdoorsmen and women have a unique opportunity to leverage their lifestyle against the magnetism of today's addictive technology. Despite this, I often see parents bringing their kids hunting only to stick a tablet or smartphone in their face to pacify their boredom.
First, what does it mean to be present as a parent? Being physically present with your child simply means that your body is where their body is. Being mentally present with your child requires effort, engagement, and patience. It means the parent is watching the child's actions and diving into their world of play or letting them join in on the adult activities in whatever way they're able to. It also requires the parents to put their phone down, turn the TV off, and put the tablet away. For children, especially young children, this parental presence can have an immeasurable impact on a child's development.
In fact, because the impact on development in young children is so great, the CDC recommends that children under the age of two have no screen time at all. Children in the early childhood range (2-4 years) should have 30 minutes or less per week. Yep, you read that right--30 minutes or less per week, not per day. Research has shown that the main impact of screen overuse is on social emotional development– meaning that children with screen overuse have a higher likelihood of challenges with regulating their emotions and relating socially to others. In contrast, kids who get more time outdoors are more likely to end up with better self-regulation and social emotional development. As an avid outdoors woman who became a parent last year, this is great news.
How to Get Your Kids Outside Early On
Humans have been taking their kids along for outdoor adventures for centuries. In today's world, most of us have the luxury of our hunting trips being a choice and not a necessity. If we preferred, most of us could go to the grocery store and grab a pack of ground beef rather than expend extra time and effort to harvest a wild animal. With these outings being a choice, we have an even greater opportunity to engage our kids in the process because the stakes aren't so high. It sounds simple: go hunting and take your kid along. And sometimes it is that simple. There will be preparation that will determine the outcome of the outing.
You'll find that you need to adapt to your expectations if you bring your kids hunting. You'll want to ensure you have plenty of snacks, layers and options for clothing, water, plus you'll want to consider how you can adjust tasks or portions of the hunt to engage your child. For example, a very young child (say, 1-2 years old) is all about sensory exploration and cause and effect. This age group will want to learn all about what they see, touch, hear, smell, and maybe even taste. In contrast, an older child (4-5 years) will be more focused on tasks while they explore. They will probably want to be involved in using tools like game calls and binoculars.
At any of these ages, there's no reasonable justification for giving the child a tablet while they’re outdoors. Preventing your child from becoming bored in the outdoors is a downright terrible reason to hand them a screen. It will undoubtedly take more effort on your part at first, and the child might become bored or frustrated, but those are the exact emotions you want your child to work through with you. You want them to become resilient adults who, when faced with challenges, can adapt and move forward. Hand them a stick, a flower, play “I spy” or point out a cool stump that you see. They’ll be happier in the long run.
What an opportunity we have as hunters, fisherman, and trappers to be able to use our hobbies and lifestyle to combat the challenges of our changing indoor world. What's even better is that nature is available to everyone, and any parent can tip the scales against screen overuse and make an effort to get their kids outdoors.
Sources:
Psychological impacts of “screen time” and “green time” for children and adolescents: A systematic scoping review. Tassia K. Oswald ,Alice R. Rumbold,Sophie G. E. Kedzior,Vivienne M. Moore. Published: September 4, 2020 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237725
Cureus. 2023 Jun 18;15(6):e40608. doi: 10.7759/cureus.40608 Effects of Excessive Screen Time on Child Development: An Updated Review and Strategies for Management. Sudheer Kumar Muppalla, Sravya Vuppalapati, Apeksha Reddy Pulliahgaru, Himabindu Sreenivasulu
HIOPS for Screen Time Limits https://www.cdc.gov/early-care-education/php/obesity-prevention-standards/screen-time-limits.h tml#:~:text=Do%20not%20utilize%20media%20viewing,educational%20purposes%20or%20phy sical%20activity