Most kids are spending more than five hours a day on social media or playing video games. Thirty-two percent of teens surveyed said they were online for 5 to 6 hours, 17 percent reported being online for 7 to 8 hours and 13 percent said they were online 9 or more hours a day.
The average screen time for teens is around 7.5 hours every day. Learn about: What are the screen time recommendations for kids and teenagers. How much time do adolescents spend on their phones and in front of the TV.
62% of parents of teens aged 14 to 17 years in the US report that their children generally spend more than 4 hours a day on the screen. Those aged 13 to 18 years spend an average of 3 hours and 16 minutes watching television or online videos and 20 minutes engaging in video chats.
And teenagers are no exception. They're spending more time on screens than ever before. Which begs the question, how much is too much? The recommendation: According to the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines, teens should only get two hours of recreational screen time a day.
Experts say adults should limit screen time outside of work to less than two hours per day. Any time beyond that which you would typically spend on screens should instead be spent participating in physical activity.
Key findings
At 4–5 years old, children average more than two hours screen time per week-day. By 12–13 years old, this increases to more than three hours average per week-day and almost four hours per weekend day. This means that up to 30% of a child's waking time is spent in front of a screen.
Yousuf said pediatricians generally recommend the following guidelines: Under 2 years old: Zero screen time, except for video chatting with family or friends. 2-5 years old: No more than one hour per day co-viewing with a parent or sibling. 5-17 years old: Generally no more than two hours per day, except for homework.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends avoiding screens for children younger than 18 to 24 months, except when video chatting with family. The AAP also recommends limiting screen use for preschool children, ages 2 to 5, to just one hour a day of high-quality programming (think Sesame Street or PBS).
Between 18 and 24 months screen time should be limited to watching educational programming with a caregiver. For children 2-5, limit non-educational screen time to about 1 hour per weekday and 3 hours on the weekend days. For ages 6 and older, encourage healthy habits and limit activities that include screens.
For preteens, excessive screen time can lead to conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder, which are behavior disorders. A recent study found that playing video games and watching YouTube videos is linked to developing OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder).
“There is also evidence of a correlation between media use and the severity of ADHD symptoms. Screens may not cause ADHD, but they may play some role — depending on what limits are placed on them and how a child or teen is using them — in exacerbating the way that ADHD symptoms are expressed.”
For years, the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended no more than two hours of screen time for children and teenagers, and absolutely no screen time for children under 2.
Constant exposure to devices like smartphones, personal computers and television can severely affect mental health — increase stress and anxiety, for example — and cause various sleep issues in both children as well as adults.”
"Screen time" is a term used for activities done in front of a screen, such as watching TV, working on a computer, or playing video games. Screen time is a sedentary activity, meaning you are being physically inactive while sitting down. Very little energy is used during screen time.
At age 6-7 years children spent an average of 81 minutes (1.4 hours) on screen time activities on the sampled school day. This increased at 8-9 years to 94 minutes (1.6 hours), at age 10-11 years to 105 minutes (1.7 hours) and at 12-13 years to 129 minutes (2.2 hours).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that children ages eight to 10 spend an average of six hours per day in front of a screen, kids ages 11 to 14 spend an average of nine hours per day in front of a screen, and youth ages 15 to 18 spend an average of seven-and-a-half hours per day in front of a ...
The AAP discourages screen use for children younger than 18 to 24 months, and recommends a limit of an hour a day for children between the ages of 2 and 5, and two hours of non-schoolwork use for school-age children between 6 and 17. However, it can be difficult for parents to gauge how to manage screen time.
Though screen time doesn't cause ADHD, some studies have suggested that children with ADHD may be at increased risk of developing a screen addiction. While parents of children with ADHD can try to be aware of their kid's screen time, most children's screen time falls short of addiction, according to Lightfoot.
The ADHD Connection
Electronics can send steady doses of dopamine – a neurotransmitter – straight to the brain's reward center. And the damage doesn't stop with an ADHD diagnosis. Ongoing screen overload can cause symptoms to get worse, and cause other problems as well.
Researchers found that the students who reported using digital media many times a day were more likely than their peers to show these symptoms: Inattention, such as difficulty organizing and completing tasks. Hyperactivity-impulsivity, such as having trouble sitting still.
Secretly checking their phone is not OK, according to Dr. Moreno, who recommends “looking at the device together, as it's an opportunity to build trust and communication.” She adds, “Snooping bypasses both trust and communication and often does more harm to the parent-child relationship than good.
Threatening to take away your teen's phone may seem like a great way to get them to do something. But it's usually not a good choice as a punishment. When you take away their phone, you're turning off the television, banning games, taking away their ability to talk with friends, and grounding them all at once.
The phone plan is probably in your name and you probably bought the electronic devices. But even if not, you have every right and responsibility to check them if you've been given cause to do so because you have the right and obligation to keep your home safe, your child safe, and your other children safe.
“TikTok is perfect for the ADHD audience because the videos are short, punchy, and entertaining.” He warns that not all content on TikTok is factual, nor does it replace seeing a doctor. Researcher Anthony Yeung, MD, and colleagues viewed one hundred of the most popular TikTok videos on ADHD.