Not All Screen Time Is Created Equal
A helpful reminder for parents to look beyond screen time limits and consider what children are actually doing online.
By Carley McGauran
What is one word to describe parenting in the digital world? This question was posed at a webinar for the parents and carers of St John’s Primary School in Footscray. The 3 most common responses? Challenging. Hard. Overwhelming.
Being a parent or carer is undeniably more complex thanks to the addition of devices and the internet. One major consideration in navigating this challenge is exactly how much screen time is ok.
However, when it comes to screen time, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer. It’s time to shift our focus from simply counting hours to understanding the nature of the screen time itself.
Consider how different these activities are:
- Building an imaginative city in Minecraft with a friend or family member
- Scrolling YouTube Shorts or TikTok
- Video calling with a grandparent
- Playing an intense, multiplayer, first-person shooter game
- Watching a Disney movie
- Engaging in unsupervised interactions with other players in a virtual community like Roblox
It’s clear that not all screen time is created equal. With this in mind, we encourage parents and carers to take stock and reflect on the type of screen time their children are engaging in. This can be a collaborative activity. Talk to your child about their screen time choices. Are they social? Passive? Interactive? Educational? Opening up these conversations about the online world is crucial for fostering healthier and safer digital experiences.
Social - Are they connecting with friends and family? Are they building relationships with safe individuals they know in the offline world?
Passive- Are they primarily watching and consuming content, such as short-form videos on YouTube Shorts, TikTok, or Instagram Reels? Are they watching others play games?
Interactive - Are they engaged in activities that involve building, making, designing, or creating?
Intensity - Is the screen time experience escalating or calming? Is it hard to stop? Does it influence their emotions or mood?
Educational - Is it related to homework? Is it self-guided learning? Are they watching ‘how-to’ videos to gain new skills?
In addition to conversations about the type of screen time, it’s essential to foster healthy habits and encourage a balance between screen time and “green time” (activities that don’t involve screens but are vital for the development of young people). The hysteria, guilt, and fear that often accompany discussions about screen time need to be replaced with a more nuanced conversation that also highlights the many benefits of healthy and safe online habits.
Carley McGauran is a psychologist and cyber safety educator with Inform & Empower, an organisation based in Footscray who partner with over 280 primary schools around Australia.