Screen time is simply about the amount of time used by a person staring at electronic screens. It applies to both adults and kids. But how to determine the recommended screen time by age?
How much is too much anyway? Check out the explanation below and decide whether or not you should change the habit – both for you and the kids.
Too many screen time problems
Screen time recommendations, on the other hand, may help you to determine whether it is already too much. Other than that, too much screen time could lead to various health issues, such as:
- Has no time for learning.
- Hard time for giving attention.
- Delaying the development of several skills.
- Behavior issues.
- Obesity.
- Messed-up schedule.
Of course, you don’t need to follow the daily recommended screen time all the time. Some activities might not count as screen time, after all. And more than anything, encouraging your kids to have non-screen activities would be a great idea.
Recommended screen time by age
Depending on your kid's age, screen time might differ from one another. Nowadays, they need their phones to learn various skills and things at school. So, here is a list of the average screen time according to your kid's age.
For kids up to 18 months old, the only screen time is for video chatting. You should encourage any other way.
When your kids are 18 months to 2 years of age, you may give a few hours per week for educational things. Keep in mind that it is a supplemental activity since you have to encourage non-screen activities in the first place.
You can allow more screen time for educational purposes for kids aged 2 to 5 years. Outside of educational stuff should be limited to three hours on weekends.
When the little person hits 6 years of age, you can increase the screen time for a few hours. However, keep encouraging them to do non-screen activities in the first place – especially for entertainment purposes.
More than anything, you need to guide your kids to manage their screen time. Sometimes it takes you to discipline them to learn about boundaries and rules. In the end, the recommended screen time by age is for the sake of your family too.
