A Telethon Kids Institute study has found the average six-month-old Australian baby has more than one hour of screen time each day. The Australian Government and World Health Organization recommend zero screen time for kids under the age of two.
But is it time to rethink that recommendation for the digital age, and is there space for a more nuanced conversation about how to have ‘quality’ screentime with your child?
Study manager in the Early Years Systems Evidence team at Telethon Kids Institute in Adelaide, Mary Brushe, believes parents can use screentime as an opportunity to grow their child’s language development and social and emotional learning.
“What we really want families to focus on is the question of whether their child is having quality screentime, and to keep interacting with their child while they’re watching,” Ms Brushe said.
“Instead of not talking while a screen is on, parents could ask their child questions or narrate what they are seeing together, even if the child is too young to respond.”
Ms Brushe led a study that placed wearable devices similar to a fitness tracker on the wrists of hundreds of babies to constantly record parents speaking to their child during the first four years of life, and measure what impact that had on the child’s language development.
The study team was then able to differentiate between spoken language and ‘electronic noise’ picked up by the device. From there they could distil how much screen time the child was exposed to on an average day.
“Some of that might include when a TV’s been left on in the background around a child or when the parent is watching something on a phone close to the child,” Ms Brushe said.
“Even though we might think the TV is just on in the background, often the child will still be paying attention to it and is often drawn by the bright colours and sounds.”
The study team found some children in every age group under two were being exposed to more than six hours a day of screentime.
Ms Brushe said the idea that a child in 2023 would have zero screentime before the age of two was unrealistic and would likely add unnecessary guilt and pressure to families.
Her team is now leading a Telethon-funded project to develop a suite of resources to help Australian families better manage their young child’s screentime and make sure they’re reaping the potential benefits of positive screentime.
Did you know?
- The average six-month-old in Australia is spending more than an hour a day in front of a screen
- Some children were found to be having up to six hours of screentime per day
- 221 families across Australia took part in the study