Schools Have Issued Screen Time Limits For Kids. Here's What Parents Think

A group of schools, nurseries and colleges have issued parents with a list of screen time recommendations for children aged between 0 and 18 years old. The letter, which was sent out to the parents of 11,000 children this week, said “young people need a largely screen-free childhood in which to grow up, with screens only used for controlled periods of time and for certain types of activities”.It also encouraged parents and teachers to be “role models” by limiting their own use of smartphones and social media in front of children.As part of the new guidelines, the coalition of schools in Southwark will also review the use of screens in classrooms, and said homework will only be set electronically “where there is a clear educational benefit”.Consulting with child psychologists, as well as educational leaders, teaching staff came up with the following guidelines for how much screen time children of different ages should be having each day...Here’s what they suggest as the maximum amount of screen time per day: Birth to 18 months – 5 minutesAccess to short supervised video calls to close family/support network.Avoid access to any other screen time especially in the hour directly before sleeping.18 months to 2 years – up to 1 hourAccess to up to one hour of age-appropriate TV per day and/or short supervised video calls to close family/support network. Avoid access to any other device including computer games, any phone or tablet.Avoid screen time in the hour directly before sleeping.2 years to Reception – up to 2 hoursAccess to up to two hours of age-appropriate TV per day and/or short supervised video calls to close family/support network.Avoid access to computer games and any type of phone, tablet or social media.Avoid screen time in the hour directly before sleeping.Reception to Year 2 – up to 2.5 hoursAccess to up to two hours of age-appropriate TV per day. Access to a tablet/laptop/PC for educational purposes for up to 30 minutes a day.Avoid access to computer games and any type of phone, tablet or social media.Avoid screen time in the hour directly before sleeping and no screens in the bedroom overnight.Year 3 to Year 5 – up to 3 hoursAccess to up to two hours of age-appropriate TV show content per day or age appropriate computer games. Access to a tablet/laptop/PC for educational purposes for up to one hour a day.Avoid access to any type of phone or social media. Avoid screen time in the hour directly before sleeping and no screens in the bedroom overnight.Year 6 to 9 – up to 4 hoursAccess to up to 2 hours of age-appropriate TV show content per day or age appropriate computer games.Access to a tablet, laptop or PC for educational purposes for up to one hour a day.Access to a ‘brick phone/non-smartphone’ for communication to/from school. Avoid access to any other device including smartphones and social media. Avoid screen time between 21:00 and 07:00 and no screens in the bedroom overnight.Year 10 to Year 11 – up to 5 hoursAccess to up to 2 hours of age-appropriate TV show content per day or age appropriate computer games.Access to a tablet, laptop or PC for educational purposes for up to two hours a day.Access to any phone, although not to be used between 21:00 and 07:00.Avoid access to any applications/social media with age restrictions above the child’s age.Avoid screen time between 21:00 and 07:00 and no screens in the bedroom overnight.What do parents think?Plenty think the guidelines are a good idea, although some are worried that the advice and conversations around it might spark more parental guilt.Anthony Villa has a three-year-old daughter and is based in the Isle of Man. In his household, they limit screen time by not allowing it on weekdays, but are flexible about it at the weekend.When his child is watching something, he will co-view with her, asking her what she thinks is going on, or pointing to things on the screen, “and it becomes a little shared experience for us and what I hope is still a language learning opportunity”.He thinks the proposed limits are “reasonable as a general guide”, but believes there “shouldn’t be a top-down mandate – not from schools, and not from government”. “Every family is different, and what works in one home might not work in another,” he told HuffPost UK.“Blanket rules just make parents feel guilty, especially those who are doing their best with what they have. Worse, they can fuel judgment between parents rather than encourage support.”However, he noted schools should “absolutely limit screen use during the school day” and added he would “love to see schools provide holistic guidance: ideas for co-viewing, advice on how to talk to children about screen habits, example screen time rules that parents can adapt”.Villa, who is managing director of Launchexperiments.com, continued: “Even recommending tools like screen time management apps or support services could be helpful.” Every family is different, and what works in one home might not work in another.Anthony VillaCelia Silvani, author of Baby Teethand a parent of two young children, told HuffPost UK she reads to her kids every day, but is “no stranger to the depths of Disney Plus”.“I hope this important conversation doesn’t turn into more guilt and blaming of parents but instead sparks a proper rethink,” she said.“The National Literacy Trust research says our children and young people are in a literacy crisis stemming from a cross-societal lack of support.“Parents need time, proper support and access to resources to help champion screen-free alternatives and make targets realistic – every family is unique and has individual circumstances and needs. Crucially, most parents are trying their best with what they have.”The screen time limits set by the school seem “generally reasonable”, said Jay Boisvert, who has four children and is CEO of social media app Wunder. “I agree with setting some limits to help encourage a healthy balance between screen use and other important activities like outdoor play, social interaction, and creative play,” he said.“However, the context matters too: not all screen time is equal. Educational, interactive content can be quite different from passive video watching.” Parents need time, proper support and access to resources to help champion screen-free alternatives and make targets realistic – every family is unique and has individual circumstances and needs.Celia SilvaniBoisvert believes the topic of screen time and kids should be a shared responsibility across society.“Parents should have the primary say in what’s right for their children, but schools and nurseries can play a helpful role in supporting those decisions and reinforcing healthy habits,” he said.Meanwhile Jude Clay, a PR Manager from Hampshire, has a nine-year-old son and thinks it’s a “great idea” to provide parents and caregivers with a guideline on what is a suitable amount of screen time for each age group.“There are guidelines for so many other aspects of parenting, especially in the early years, so why not on something like this when it’s such a common part of modern day parenting?” she said.Her son has limited, but regular, access to screens for age-appropriate entertainment and gaming, in addition to the “increasing amounts of his homework which relies on screens”.“I don’t really like technology being such a firm part of education these days – whilst I understand the benefits, there are drawbacks too,” she said.“How can we realistically keep within the parameters of time guidelines and encourage restricted use of screens when they are so heavily involved in the fabric of their educational lives?”Mike Baxter, principal at City of London Academy Southwark, who helped pen the letter and guidelines to parents, said the announcement “is not an attack on modern parenting” but “a supportive re-clarification as to what we must collectively do to give our children the best start in life”.He continued: “Over the past 20 years schools and families have too often blindly trusted technology to aid and even enhance the education and wellbeing of our young people, however the reality couldn’t be further from this.“Today we are collectively drawing a line in the sand on this appalling social experiment in the firm belief that schools and families working together can stem the tide on the significant harm screen time, smartphones and social media use has caused for many of our children.”Related...Half A Million More Pupils To Receive Free School Meals In Eligibility Shake-UpI Hated School – Then Teachers Made An Observation That Changed My LifeRaising A School-Age Kid? 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