Should parents monitor their children’s screen time? An expert opinion for JEE aspirants.

We would like to bring this information to the attention of all parents whose children are preparing for the JEE examination. Every parent should initiate the screen time module daily, as realistically as possible. It applies to every child preparing for the JEE and pursuing Class 11 or 12, or may be a dropper who prefers online or offline coaching. What is screen time all about? 

Screen time is the total time spent on a screen, such as a tablet, laptop, computer, gaming screen, or mobile device. For a child appearing for the JEE exam, the entire concept of screen time will take a new curve. The analysis would focus on the total number of productive person-hours expended and the relative productivity obtained.  

Before we discuss screen time and its utility, let us first define what screen time means and how it can have adverse effects or meaningful impacts on your child’s education, particularly with respect to career-oriented exams such as JEE Main and JEE Advanced. Through this discussion, we would like to present instances of your child’s screen time related to JEE preparation and how, as a parent, you tactically reduce their stress levels when dealing with the challenges of JEE preparation. To fine-tune it, Screen time for your child’s JEE preparation should be assessed by the learning output graph and the proportional sleep impact, ignoring the total number of raw hours spent in competitive exam preparation. In this scenario, the parents’ role-play is highly critical for aligning their child’s focus with their goals and objectives at the outset.  

Throughout the process, experts advise parents to monitor their child’s study patterns to ensure they are normal, address distractions as they arise, and avoid optimising their child’s behaviour through continual policing. However, any parent must outline the following, assess whether their child is experiencing sleep loss, and determine how often their child falls into distraction loops. Finally, a parent should decide if their child is engaging in high-quality or low-quality study hours. A parent can confirm screen time utilisation, provided they understand the utility of screen time for JEE preparation. 

JEE screen time for your Child

Your child can engage in screen time for activities, learning, work or productivity, entertainment, and socialising. Some are highly productive, while others are distracting. When your child uses the JEE screen time wisely without sacrificing quality time, it can be highly beneficial for JEE aspirants. If your child spends time on learning apps for online classes, mock tests, test analysis, and clarifying doubts, that time is utilised to their benefit.  Likewise, if your child uses a screen for note preparation, planners, timers, document creation, or email, it is considered equally productive.

On the other hand, if your child spends time on apps like YouTube, short Instagram videos, movies or series, or games for entertainment, it will reduce quality study time. Furthermore, if your child spends time chatting, scrolling feeds, and browsing social media apps, their screen time will reduce productivity. Therefore, for your child, screen time is the time spent on the screen, whether it is productive or distracting. 

As a parent, you must monitor your child's screen time progress in two segments. In the first segment, check study screen time, including lectures, practice, and test reviews. In the second segment, check the entertainment scroll time for the entertaining app to enjoy fun, joyful moments. If you increase your child's study hours from 6 to 9, time spent on entertainment will decrease, and a comfortable sleep will protect your child's quality time. While checking your child's performance daily, call for out-of-the-box questions: How many problems could you solve today? Ask for the updated error log and the marked questions. Lastly, what could you revise, and are there any pending tasks? You must monitor your child's movements and protect high-risk zones, mainly by keeping them away from social media and wearing shorts an hour before sleep. Ensure your child uses entertainment apps only after their daily study targets are met. 

Parent Monitoring Tips 

Remember, your child will require parent monitoring tips when you observe the changes as follows:

1. If your child's sleep time is getting shorter or they're waking tired. 

2. When your child begins to procrastinate and perform less problem-solving, it is a sign that they are struggling. 

3. If you observe mood swings, irritation, and anxiety spikes in a day. 

4. If you find your child studying hard but scores remain low. 

5. If your child continually switches between apps and resources. 

Summary: 

Parents must utilise JEE screen time as a tool, not a default habit. Otherwise, it would compel them to imagine their child’s every move as a distraction or a social disorder. JEE screen time can serve as a useful calibration tool to monitor whether a child is falling into a distraction loop. Parent monitoring tips can also help parents regulate adequate sleep and reduce low-quality study hours.

FAQs: Should parents monitor their children’s screen time?

What is screen time?

It is the time your child is engaging with interactive screens, such as mobile devices, tablets, and computers.

How does it apply to your child’s JEE Preparation?

Your child's use of screens for productive learning is encouraging and rewarding. However, if your child uses it for entertainment, they may lose quality time and pay less attention, reducing their study time.

How should you monitor your child’s screen time?  

As a parent, you must monitor your child’s screen time and entertainment time, and provide suggestions to reduce entertainment app use to improve study hours.