Is your youngster on an OTT binge? Here’s what to do

Does your normally lazy teen hop out of bed at uncanny hours to watch a favourite episode, and then keep watching OTT shows till lunch time? Is your cuddly 12 year old living more with cartoon characters than his or her human family? If you are fed up with a kid on an OTT binge, you are not alone. Here are some tips for irritated parents to stop their kids’ mental and physical health from getting affected by OTT binge.  

Get them to go slow with favourites  
According to a 2019 study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, the faster we consume episodic audio visual media like TV shows, the less we enjoy them. This is because when we watch the same programme for hours our brain is bored, and we are watching out of force of habit, without paying much attention. Get the kids to go slow, savour what they see, comprehend the story properly. It will make them anticipate and enjoy the episodes more.   

No show is a must-watch 
Yes, we mean that controversial phrase. Many kids, across all age groups, watch shows just because their peer group is watching it. They actually force themselves to watch all episodes of a show to participate in discussion on it! Stop them. Let them know that individual choice is a sign of intelligence, it’s much more cool than following the flock.  

Breaks are needed when the pace falls  
TV serials do an admirable job at dragging on a situation with twists, thunderous dialogue, and almost no plot development. OTT shows are trying this out too, though with a little more craft. Tell your kid to watch the full episode again when it picks up speed; missing a few episodes won’t matter.  

Turn off Autoplay on their devices  
If you are being defeated by Hulu and Netflix daily, then being your kid in line by simply turning the Autoplay option. They will not like it, but this is a measure for the ones that are constantly defiant about binge watching.    

These measures may result in some tantrums initially, but will settle the kids into a slower, more peaceful series-watching rhythm.