Something for us to use to make sure our kids aren’t spending too much time. Thanks

It makes sense that it’s the quality of the interaction too. I didn’t realise the guidelines were from the 1990s!

my kids spend too much time, but its the only way I can get things done

Think I agree, my 11 year old loves to do beautiful drawings on the computer and gives loomband tutorials.

It’s the way society is now, yeah mine watch too much
Everything in moderation

I agree with this article. My 2.5 yr old loves music games

My kids all love their screens, unfortunately. Other family members introduced them to games etc and once they had a taste, there was no going back.

My 9yr old son is ipad addicted. If i wasnt around, he will play the ipad all day if he wanted to. Problem is that since he was a toddler, he didnt know how to entertain himself. He has legos, carstrucks, tried sport and he has not shown any interest at all but ipad. I have a rule no ipad on mon after school until friday morning. Im having to take myself away and play with my son just the fact of entertaining him but i do enjoy my fun with him. If hes naughty, ipad is the first thing that goes. So far hes on 2 months grounded from his ipad. He has wii u, thats next to be taken off.
i wish i never gave my son technology the first place.

It’s very difficult now because the majority of schooling is done through a computer.
I have a teenage sister & I can not ever recall her attending a library!
Everything is done through computers which causes concerns for her eye sight. & what about families that can not afford home internet?
When I attended High School over 10 years ago our maths class was held in a computer room!

My kids had limited screen time at home and they didn’t mind because they were busy outside kinda kids and played a lot outside. In their time tho, screen time was a tv, nothing else

I think that although they use computers at school and come home and watch tv or play on a screen for relaxation it is very hard to know how much time they have as you dont know are they infront of the screen all lesson time, or only one lesson during the day. Or use it for reference for 10 minutes in 2 lessons. But it does seem a lot of hours.

Maybe an eye specialist should have been consulted by the person who wrote this article. I know a few Mums who have used their TVs as babysitters for a baby instead of on the floor or in a playpen with toys that are good to amuse them. Toys suitable for development skills would be even better. Children are developing eye strain and needing glasses a lot younger than used to be the average. Whe we made enquiries we were advised not to let a baby too close to a TV and only for short times, not for hours. I never needed glasses until I started using a computer.

We limit TV, but are more flexible about other things – for example, my 8 and 5 year olds are teaching themselves to type through online modules.

Our toddler already seems to be in front of a screen so much of the time. Screens are so much part of everyday life it is difficult to tell a toddler not to use a device when we seem to be in front of or on devices so much of the time. There definitely needs to be a level of leading by example.

About time this info was updated!

My daughter is a teenager and does not have any other device other than her computer at home. On average she will spend about 4 hours doing her homework and Skyping with her friends, and I do not feel that this is excessive given the amount of homework she has in high school.

I agree with this article that screen time limits need to be changed. My primary school going kids need to do already so much homework on the computer… And yes there are a lot of educational games out there.

I find that I’m constantly arguing it instructing my kids to get off iPad, iPhones, computes, Xbox.. It’s a losing battle but after a few requests they finally do listen.

I find that I’m constantly arguing it instructing my kids to get off iPad, iPhones, computes, Xbox.. It’s a losing battle.

This article made me feel that little bit better as a parent 😀 I think that you need to balance the time they are inside using devices such as a tablet, phone or tv with their time outdoors. My son spends a good 30 mins in the morning watching cartoons while he eats breakfast and gets dressed for school, but then he is outside playing till school time and rides to and from school. Everything has its place and there is no escaping technology but there is a say in the impact it will have on your child