Screen time for children is a tricky topic since we’re entering such a predominant technological world. It’s hard to not utilize screens when engaging and raising young children nowadays, which makes it important to learn how to do this in a healthy way. There are ways to positively promote child health and development in the digital world. Four evidence-based principles are minimizing, mitigating, mindfully using, and modelling healthy use of screens. 

 

Minimizing the use of screens is always recommended. It’s not recommended for children younger than 2 years old to use screens, and for children 2-5 years old, it’s recommended about 1 hour or less of screen time. It’s also recommended to avoid screens 1 hour before bedtime and to maintain daily screen-free times like family meals and book-sharing.  

 

Another principle for healthy use of screens is mitigating the risks associated with screentime. One way to do this is to be present and engaged when screens are being used, so it’s important that children aren’t using screens by themselves. Another way to mitigate risks is to encourage the use of screens for creative activities like drawing rather than passive viewing. Curating and monitoring young children’s media are something else that could help.  

 

Being mindful about the use of screen time is another important principle for healthy use of screens. Creating a plan for when, how, and where screens may and may not be used could help with this as well as prioritizing shared family media use like watching television or movies together, rather than having children play or watch by themselves. 

 

The last principle for healthy use of screens is that adults should model health screen use. They can do this by encouraging and participating in activities that don’t involve screens like shared reading, outdoor play, board games, and crafts. It’s also important to turn off devices during family time at and away from home as well as when not in use and avoid background television.  

 

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Angelina Stofka 

UConn KIDS, Research Assistant 

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