Screen Time and Young Children

Screen time is the passive exposure of an individual to screen-based entertainment such as television, mobile phones, and other electronic devices. Exposing children to long hours of screen time affects their health and development.

Unsupervised screen time may expose them to inappropriate contents that can possibly affect their behavior and mood. Children’s communication skills are also affected. Being engulfed in the screen, they miss out on what’s happening around them, which limits their opportunity to interact with other children, and build healthy relationships. Additionally, they miss out on the chance to acquire language skills through play and other interactions.

Parents and guardians are highly encouraged to lessen screen time for children especially for those below 5 years of age. According to the World Health Organization (2019), children below one year old should not have any screen time AT ALL, while children between 2 and 5 years of age should only have ONE HOUR of passive screen time per day. One way to combat the need to resort to passive screen time is for parents and guardians to plot out “Screen Time” within the child’s daily routine. We must always ensure that the content the child is watching is safe, age-appropriate, and informative.

The Seed Learning can help you lessen your child’s screen time! Our individually designed daily routines and activity plans will allow you to have a fun time with your kids as they hone and develop their skills.

Header photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash