Dr Sumudu Mallawaarachchi is a Research Fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Her research interests (including her PhD) focus on digital media, technology and child development.

Dr Dylan Cliff is an Associate Professor in Health and Physical Education in the School of Education at the University of Wollongong, Australia and a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child. His area of expertise is in children’s movement behaviours, including digital technologies, physical activity and sedentary behaviour.

Screen “time” is just one piece of the puzzle when considering healthy screen habits for young children. What else matters?

Australian parents rank screen time as the number one health issue facing their children. Given that screen time is an inescapable part of most children’s lives, it is understandable that parents often feel a mix of guilt, fear and worry about it. Yet guidance on what parents can do to support healthy screen use for children can be confusing. According to the World Health Organisation and the Australian Government, young children’s screen time should be limited to no more than one hour for 2- to 5-year-olds, while children under 2 years shouldn’t be exposed to screens at all. But an article from the United Kingdom’s Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health concludes that “because the effect of screen time depends so much on context, and the uncertain nature of the evidence, it is impossible to give comprehensive national guidance or limits”.

This made us wonder, what else matters for children’s healthy development beyond “screen time” and we gathered all available evidence on “screen contexts” to find the answers.

Our research

In our new research, we reviewed 100 studies (of which 64 were meta-analysed) on the influence of screen use contexts on cognitive, social and emotional development among children aged from birth to 5 years. Based on our findings from over 176,000 children and their families, we offer four research-based ways parents can make young children’s screen use benefit their brains and behaviour:

1. Make screen time together time

Watching a favourite show like Bluey or playing on an app like Reading Eggs is not a bad thing, especially if children and caregivers engage together. We found that using screens together (i.e., co-viewing or co-use) was beneficial for children’s cognition, especially language outcomes. Watching TV or movies and playing with apps or e-games as a family and having conversations about what children are seeing or doing, helping them understand the content (e.g., Why did Bluey hide that from mummy Chilli?) and drawing connections to the real world (e.g., How do you think Bingo is feeling right now?) can foster their language development and learning.

2. Choose age-appropriate screen content that encourages play

Not all screen time is ‘bad’ but we should also consider the content that children are engaging with and how it might influence their development and behaviour. We found that children who spent less time watching TV programs and online content and children who watched less age-inappropriate content had better cognitive, social and behavioural outcomes. These findings highlight the importance of encouraging purposeful and high-quality screen experiences for children. Parents might ask themselves, what age or developmental stage is the content designed for and does it have value in promoting learning and development (e.g., Sesame Street)? Does it stimulate imaginative play and creativity that children can bring from the virtual to the real world (e.g., Playschool)? Does the content have positive social messages (e.g., Bluey)? Does it encourage movement like dancing to music (e.g., Ready, Steady, Wiggle)? Avoiding violent content and content for mature audiences is key, and parents can use trustworthy guides like those from Common Sense Media and Children and Media Australia to help children engage with quality content.

3. Model positive screen use

While mobile technologies mean that children can use screens almost anywhere and anytime, the same is true for parents. Sometimes parents’ screens can interfere with conversations and connections between them and their child. In our research, children had better social and behavioural outcomes when parents avoided screen use during interactions and routines like family meals. When parents are distracted, it can affect the quality and quantity of interactions with their child. However, new research shows that distractions are the problem, regardless of whether they are digital or non-digital. So what’s important is being present and engaged with children, and not letting screens become another distraction that breaks the time to bond.

4. Give background TV a time-out

Children learn from their environments and background TV may divert a child’s attention from play and learning. Studies also show that background TV can reduce the frequency of words spoken and the number of new words used by parents in conversations with children. Our research found that children had better cognitive outcomes when there was less background TV in the home. So, when the TV is not actively being watched, consider giving it a time-out so that children can play, listen and learn.

By being mindful of these insights, we can help children grow up happy and healthy in this increasingly digital world.

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