8. How is children’s or parents’ use of technology perceived in the family (e.g., a potential resource for learning, a potential stress or barrier to the relationship, etc.)? Is children’s or parents’ use of technology ever a source of conflict (e.g., between parents and children or between parents and other family members or caregivers)? If so, how often and in what ways?





 


These questions can help play therapists understand family attitudes and behaviors concerning technology use. The answers could spur the development of additional


treatment objectives for the parent-child


 on developmentally appropriate limits for children’s technology use. Play therapists can further recommend suggestions published by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP, 2016) to help parents make more informed decisions about how to keep technology use within moderate limits for them and their children. The AAP (2016) advised: • For children younger than 18 months: Avoid use of screen media other than video-chatting, for instance, to facilitate communication  • For children 18 to 24 months old: Any digital media should consist of high-quality programming, and parents should watch it with their children to help them understand what they are seeing. • For children 2 to 5 years old: Limit screen use to 1 hour per day of high-quality programming. Parents should co-view media with children to help them understand what they are seeing and apply it to the world around them.


Furthermore, play therapists can raise parental awareness of how the distraction of technology can interfere with meaningful parent-child interactions and can lead to increased behavioral disruptions in children (McDaniel & Radesky, 2017) or disputes between children and parents.  children’s behavioral patterns. For example, question 4 addresses mealtimes, and parents can set device boundaries and turn off mobile devices during mealtimes to privilege interpersonal dialogue around the table.


Digital technology can promote parent-child bonding when used sparingly and appropriately. Children learn from passive or interactive media when caregivers co-view and teach them about the content, and repeat this teaching through daily interactions (McDaniel & Radesky 2017). Questions 2 and 3 address how digital play may effectively bring a parent into a child’s world; for example, a child taking photos or videos on a device, then showing these to the parent, or the parent and child audio recording/illustrating stories together could be ways of facilitating their interaction and bond (McDaniel & Radesky, 2017).


Conclusion Technology offers access to information and a means of social connection, but it can also impede one’s ability to physically connect with others. Although, technology and social media can be both educational and helpful, excessive use by parents and/or children interferes with healthy child and relationship development (Aiken, 2016).  is used in the home environment. Having an awareness of the role that technology plays in the parents’ life will help them to understand how their utilization may enhance or impede their attachment processes with their child(ren). This awareness helps parents to make informed decisions when implementing parenting policies around their and their children’s technology use. Play therapists can also support the parent- child relationship by encouraging parents to purposefully schedule times during the day for playful interaction and time together in nature to limit their children’s and infants’ engagement with devices. Parents        their children’s healthy development. Infants need live “FaceTime” with their parents to grow healthy and secure attachment relationships (Brody, 1997; Schore, 2012).


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