Story highlights
- Report: Kids up to age 8 spend spend an average of 2 hours and 19 minutes every day on screen media
- For kids 8 to 12, it’s 4 hours and 36 minutes every day
The Parent Curve offers a look at the norms and numbers around tough decisions parents face. Where are you on the curve?
Just how much time are children spending buried in screens?
That’s an increase from 2011, when the average daily screen media time for the same age group was 1 hour 55 minutes. Time spent on most devices, including TV, computers, video games and DVDs, has dropped since 2011, but time spent on mobile phones has increased significantly. (The recent results were obtained through a survey of 1,454 parents of children age 8 or under conducted in January and February.)
The report said the top activity among tweens was watching TV: Nearly 62% of those surveyed said they watch TV every day. But according to the 2015 report, there are differences in how tweens of different genders use their screen time. Boys spend more time playing console video games, while girls spend more time on music and social media. Mobile devices accounted for 41% of all screen time among tweens.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends limiting screen media use for children younger than 18 months to video chatting. For older children, it advises that parents choose high-quality content and watch it with their children to help them understand what they’re seeing.
Moreover, the academy says that screen media use should not interfere with children’s sleep and exercise routines. The organization urges parents to ensure that their children have media-free times with the family and designate areas of the home as media-free zones.
