Tantrums And Technology: Screen Time Concerns For Parents

Most parents know what it’s like to have to drag their child kicking and screaming – sometimes literally – away from a screen.

Almost 70 per cent of parents have seen tantrums after taking their child’s device away, according to a new survey, while about 40 per cent said using technology made their children more agitated or frustrated.

The Real Insurance Australian Kids and Technology Survey questioned 1000 parents about technology use by children aged three to 16.

About 90 per cent felt technology encouraged their children to be more creative and solve complex problems, and more than half said exposure to it made their children more inquisitive.

But 92 per cent said technology could be addictive for kids, 61 per cent worried that family members spent too much time at home isolated within tech cocoons, and 36 per cent said children had sent text messages, rather than talking to them, at home.

In 2015 Telstra research found 68 per cent of children aged three to 17 owned a smartphone, with an average of almost 22 hours a week spent on the devices.

The American Academy of Paediatrics last year relaxed its screen time guidelines for children, advising that parents watch media with their younger children and older children balance media use with healthy activities offline.

Joanne Orlando, senior lecturer in early childhood education at Western Sydney University and an expert on children and technology, said the changes acknowledged the research showing technology “has benefits for children if it’s used in quality ways”.

– Kim Arlington

Image by Marvin Meyer from Unsplash