UP close and personal with radio host and mother of two Aishah Sinclair about her experience in striking a right balance on her children’s gadget time:
Question: What are your tips to strengthen the bonds between parents and kids?
Answer: I think there is no other way than to spend time with your child. If it were up to me, I would love to spend the whole day with my two daughters, doing what they love, hours on end. However, that is not always possible because of work, errands and their school schedules.
I do try to spend quality time with my kids. Even if I just have 30 minutes to spare after lunch or before bedtime, I make full use of it to be completely and fully with them, and I’ll put away distractions, like my handphone.
Question: Instead of being glued to gadgets, how can parents impart knowledge to their children, as well as cultivate their interests in the environment, such as animals, nature, flora and fauna?
Answer: The best way is to spend as much time with them in nature as possible. Take your children out for a walk in the jungle during school holidays, visit the neighbourhood park as much as you can, bring them to the zoo to see and learn more about animals or even get them interested in taking care of your garden. The idea is to get them connected to the environment, so that they can start to appreciate it at an early age.
Question: As children can have a short attention span, what are effective tools to keep children entertained?
Answer: My older daughter is very crafty, so if I give her anything to do with her hands, she will be more focused on her little projects.
I think if parents take time off to sit down and engage their children in an activity, kids tend to have better focus as opposed to watching a 15-minute cartoon or playing games on a smart device that are meant to “babysit” children.
I think once a child is engaged in an activity that requires them to focus, such as putting together jigsaw puzzles or making origami animals, they will be more determined to achieve an outcome that will leave them with a sense of self-satisfaction and pride. This encourages children to use their motor and thinking skills, thus refining their problem solving skills and ultimately, decision-making abilities.
Question: As a mother of two, how do you select content for your children to be engaged in?
Answer: Parental involvement is key. They (kids) can watch television or play with smart devices, but always under supervision. Some content out there are not child-friendly. Cartoons that use rough language or portray unfavourable behaviours are on my ‘no’ list. You can say that I’m a bit strict when it comes to content supervision and consumption.
Question: What is your take on television as an educational platform for children?
Answer: When it comes to the television, it is not the tool that should be blamed, but the method it is being used for. To me, television has always been a wealth of information and should be used as an educational tool.
Unfortunately, for the most part, it is being used as a “babysitter” to pacify and keep children distracted. My advice is for parents to choose the best channels or shows for your children, have a schedule for it or implement cut-off times. Besides the occasional instances when my older daughter is watching a movie, I would usually allow one hour a day of television time for her.
Question: As a working mother, are there any tips that you can share on achieving work-life balance?
Answer: There are no steadfast rules when it comes to this. Every family will find what works for them, but here are some tips that work for me.
Firstly, learn to be flexible, especially with yourself. Don’t try to be that perfect mother who can manage everything. There are some areas in your life that you won’t be able to live up to expectations. For example, I don’t get to cook as much as I would like to since I started working at the radio station and my house is not always visitor ready.
Secondly, spend quality time, not quantity time. Being a working mother, time is everything, but unfortunately, I don’t have the luxury of it. So when I do spend time with my daughters, I try and make the best of it and am as present as I can with them.
Question: Children are exposed to different environments every day at daycare, preschool and the playground, sometimes with or without parental supervision. How do you ensure that your children do not pick up wrong information or bad behaviour in these environments?
Answer: You can’t really control what bad habits your child might be exposed to at school or at the playground. What I would usually do is talk to my daughter if she comes home with some of these bad habits. I would explain to her that different houses have different rules. Some behaviour displayed by her friends may be acceptable in their homes, but not necessarily in ours. I try not to make other children look wrong in her eyes, but instead, let her understand that other people may have different rules to abide by.
Question: Children are exposed to different environments. There will be occasions where you will not be able to supervise your children as closely as you like. What steps do you take to ensure the appropriate amount of media is consumed when you are not around?
Answer: This one specially applies to when the girls are at their grandparents’ houses. Over the years, I have learned to relax a little when it comes to what my children do in other environments, such as their friend’s houses or grandparents’ houses.
I can’t really control what they do or watch when they’re there as much as I would like to, but I am lucky that both my parents and parents-in-law understand where I come from in terms of screen time and they do their best to supervise their (the kids’) viewing time.