Everywhere I look right now, people are talking about screen time.
It’s by no means a new conversation (parents have been having it for years), but increasingly, experts are saying there’s a whole lot more to the ‘how much is too much’ screen time debate than simply sticking a number on it.
Screen time recommendations for under-fives were recently shared by the UK government, while much has been said of the mental health impact of teens spending hours scrolling social media each day.
Some schools, nurseries and colleges have taken matters into their own hands, issuing a list of screen time recommendations for children aged 0-18 years old. The list suggested 2- to 5-year-olds could have up to two hours on screens per day, for instance, while 10- to 14-year-olds could have up to four hours.
There’s such a focus on screen time (specifically, the number of hours spent on devices) that teens are even Googling ways to fake their screen time stats. Parents and experts are simultaneously asking: should homework count as screen time?
All children are different and what might work for one child, may not work for the next. So, is there a better way to help parents understand whether their kids are having too much screen time (especially when it can be pretty tricky to know just how much they’re consuming as they get older)?
Questions to ask when considering if your child’s screen time is too high
We all know we should limit screen time, but sometimes we have to work or get things done and screens keep our children still and entertained.
Recently, integrative paediatrician Dr Joel Warsh, aka Dr Gator on social media, shared in his newsletter that he tells parents to ask four questions when it comes to the impact of screen time on their kids.
These are:
Is my child sleeping well? Are they able to focus without screens?Do they play independently?And how do they behave when the screen is taken away?If their sleep, focus and ability to play independently is on track, and they don’t have meltdowns or angry outbursts when screens are taken away, this is a positive sign.
The paediatrician noted that “sometimes it’s not about the number of hours” but rather the effect on our kids.
Not all content is equal in terms of impact. Watching screens with an engaged adult where parents talk and ask questions is linked to better development than solo use, while slow-paced content is considered better than fast-paced, social media-style videos.
On this, Dr Warsh noted he’d seen kids who had watched 30 minutes of intense content and had a meltdown, while others had watched 1-2 hours of structured, calm content and been “totally fine”.
Academics have been discussing screen time recommendations for some time now. In 2017, Professor Sonia Livingstone and Alicia Blum-Ross acknowledged that parents could use set screen time rules “as a rod with which to beat themselves”.
So, rather than watching the screen time clock, they suggested parents observe their kids and consider whether they are:
Eating and sleeping enough?Physically healthy?Connecting socially with friends and family – through technology or otherwise?Engaged in school?Enjoying and pursuing hobbies and interests – through technology or beyond?If you answer ‘yes’ to all or most of these, chances are you’re doing just fine.
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