Screen or Green

Children’s brains are built through movement, play and social connection.  Screens can support learning when used in moderation, but have detrimental consequences when not monitored or limited.  Current trends in parenting reveal that although 73% of parents played outside more than inside when they were kids, only 13% of their children have the same experience. 

Children interact with screens on a daily basis from TV, to laptops at school and personal mobile phones, tablets and video gaming.  These devices afford children an opportunity to grow existing relationships, create new social connections, aid further studies and provide information about the world beyond their own backyard,  But the effects aren’t all positive.  Especially when used in the first 3 years of childhood and in excess of the recommended daily exposure. 

The daily recommended sedentary screen time, as provided by the World Health Organisation, are much lower than the current trends for young children, adolescents and adults alike.

The daily recommendations are:

·       Under 1-2 years old – no screen time recommended

·       2–7-year-olds – ½ -1 hour with less being preferred

·       7–12-year-olds-  1 hour

·       12–15-year-olds – 1.5 hours

In our current world, we all far exceed these recommendations.  Sometimes even before breakfast.  Screens have replaced the outdoor play that provides opportunities for movement, sunlight, creativity,  safe risk taking, collaborative play and social interactions with peers and children of other ages. 

The result of more time spent inside sitting in front of screens includes:

·      * Reduced readiness for school with deficiencies in motor skills, lower vocabulary and communication skills, and reduced eye contact

·     *  Evidence of ADHD, anxiety and depressive behaviours (gaming having a higher impact on these than other types of screen use)

·     *  Reduced concentration, creativity and problem solving

·      * Sleep disturbances due to blue light affecting the pituitary gland

·      * Obesity

·      * Reduced social skills

So what is the answer to all this and how can we minimise or avoid these outcomes?  A very simple statement from the World Health Organisation states, “To grow up healthy, children need to sit less and play more”.   Having more Green Time is a great place to start.  Playing outside provides not only the benefits listed above, but also helps set the circadian rhythm of the brain providing better chances at a good night’s sleep.  Parenting expert, Deidre Brandner, shares these tips for screen-free parenting and building a robust attachment with children: 

·       * Embrace parallel play.  Children playing while you complete necessary tasks creates vocabulary proximity

·       * Spend less than 1 hour restrained at a time (car seat, Bumbo, pram, play station)

·       * Create phone-free zones, even if for just 20 minutes a day

·       * Low stimulation environments:  like park walk, shared kitchen preparation

·       * Quiet time as an opportunity to practise independent play engaging in puzzles, colouring, drawing, reading.  Or shared downtime with board games, shared story-telling, or slow body movements such as yoga, stretching or dancing

·      * Come prepared to cafes and restaurants with pencils, paper, colouring in, books

·       * Presence over performance.  Remember that your presence, not your performance, is what matters most to their emotional, mental and physical development

By helping kids balance screen time with real world play and social connections, we support stronger minds, healthier bodies and happier futures.  And by participating in these activities with our little ones, I suspect our minds and bodies will feel the benefits as well. 

References:

Susie O’Brian, “Parents spend 14 years on screens”, Daily Telegraph, 9 Sep 2025

Susie O’Brien, “Screens weaken our kids.  Toddlers develop slower”, Herald Sun, 20 Aug 2025

World Health Organisation, “To Grow up healthy, Children need to sit less and play more.  New WHO guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for children unde 5 years of age”,  24 April 2019

Muppalla, Sudheer Kumar, et al. "Effects of excessive screen time on child development: an updated review and strategies for management." Cureus 15.6 (2023).

Lauren Hale, Screen time and sleep among school-aged children and adolescents:  A systematic literature review.  Science Direct; Sleep Medicine Reviews, Vol 21, June 2015, Pages 50-58

Oswald, Tassia K., et al. "Psychological impacts of “screen time” and “green time” for children and adolescents: A systematic scoping review." PloS one 15.9 (2020): e0237725.

American Optometric Association, “New WHO guidance:  Very limited daily screen time recommended for children under 5”,  6 May 2019