Fernanda Lima’s “three minutes of breathing” and 5 other rules to control your children’s screen time

Controlling the time children spend in front of screens has become a key issue for many parents. Currently, it is estimated that one in four young people are moderately or severely dependent on the internet. So that it does not become a problem in the future, it is essential to encourage children to also have access and fall in love with physical, artistic and intellectual activities that do not involve electronic devices.

Fernanda Lima and Rodrigo Hilbert are the parents of three children — Francisco, João and Maria Manoela — and they take this issue very seriously. Today the awesome.club will share the couple’s 6 rules for monitoring their kids’ screen time and reveal why they’re important. Check out!

“When it’s time to sleep, I say enough for the day and they turn everything off”, says Fernanda Lima. The artist also says that this is a pact that has no discussion.

Studies reveal that using electronic devices that emit blue light at night — such as smartphones or tablets — can interfere with sleep quality, as they suppress the production of melatonin (also known as the sleep hormone).

Sleeping well is very important for brain development. In teenagers, for example, a bad night’s sleep can end up affecting their ability to process and store the information they learned that day. And nobody wants hours of algebra class to be forgotten, do they?

Those who follow the couple’s career know how much Rodrigo Hilbert has a special connection with the kitchen and loves to teach his special recipes on television. Meal time is sacred to the family, so children are not allowed to use any electronic device while sitting at the dinner table — including the television. “We focus on our food and our interaction”, guarantees the presenter.

This rule can be supported by researchers in Canada, who recruited more than 300 people to analyze how they behaved during a meal with friends and family. Randomly, participants were instructed to put away or keep their phones on the table. The study showed that those who used cell phones were more distracted and felt that the activity was less pleasurable. So research suggests that device use can disrupt how we connect with others in the “real world”.

We also need to talk about the importance of parental controls on online platforms. Fernanda Lima and Rodrigo Hilbert block words they consider inappropriate on their children’s cell phones and computers.

Without this control, children might unintentionally access websites, social media, and videos that aren’t appropriate for their age—or even end up talking to strangers. And there are a number of apps that can help parents create a safer digital experience for their little ones, such as Screen Time, AppBlock or Google Family Link.

The fourth rule is that the couple limits the number of hours their children can spend in front of the screens. “When it’s a weekday, when they have classes, they can stay for less time. When it’s the weekend, I take it easy and let them play a little more”, explains Fernanda Lima.

According to experts, there has been a growing demand for treatment for unhealthy behaviors associated with the use of the internet, social networks and video games. As addiction to these technologies can bring future problems, it’s good to show how to create offline habits, and spending less time in front of the computer can bring great benefits.

And talking about offline time… how about encouraging your kids to practice other activities in the “real world”? A great tip from the couple is to bargain for playful, creative, physical and intellectual activities in exchange for screen time. According to the artist, “they have to write an essay, read an excerpt from a book every night, build something fun, dance, play a sport, play an instrument…”

In this way, children can exercise other sides of their brain and — who knows — discover new passions, vocations and skills. If you are out of ideas, take a look at our website, which has a series of very cool activity tips. In this article, we teach you how to do fun science experiments with children. In this other one, we show ten games to do indoors, which can strengthen the bond between parents and children. How about trying it today?

Finally, a tip that can help many dads and moms. “After a lot of screen time, it often happens that children get a little upset and more aggressive, especially after certain games. When that happens, I sit down with them and propose that they do three minutes of breathing”, says Fernanda Lima. The artist says that sometimes they resist a little, but she guarantees that after they go through that moment, it is clear that the energy is much calmer.

Studies show that controlling your breathing influences oscillations in regions of the brain related to emotions. By counting the number of breaths, our attention becomes more focused, causing brain activity in regions connected with emotion, memory and consciousness to have more organized patterns — similar to what happens when we are in a state of rest. . That is, taking those “three minutes of breathing” can be beneficial not only for the children, but also for the parents.

What did you think of the six rules adopted by Fernanda Lima and Rodrigo Hilbert? Do you have any tips to help control screen time? Tell our team in the comments.