Our Head of Projects, Cherie Morgan, recently spoke to Forth 1 about the UK Government’s consideration of new limits on how much time children and young people spend on social media.
Early findings from a survey by the Children’s Commissioner for Wales reveal that one in five children spend at least seven hours a day in front of a screen. 10 and 11 year olds reported spending nine hours a day on screens over the weekend alone. Concerns are growing that screen time will rise even further during the summer holidays. The same survey found that many children are bypassing platform-imposed screen time limits.
These findings came ahead of new regulations under the Online Safety Act, which included age verification requirements for certain sites. The changes, which came into force earlier this month, aim to address online safety and reduce excessive screen time.
Speaking on the radio, Cherie acknowledged that too much sedentary screen time is a real issue and that “rather than sitting passively looking at screens, children could be spending more time getting out and about being active outdoors”. However, she also stressed the importance of a balanced view and that some children valued used screens in a positive way. Cherie said that it was important to note that some children used devices to connect socially and were more comfortable doing so. Cherie emphasised the importance of open conversations between parents, carers and children, saying, it’s important that we are “Having those conversations with children and asking them (about their screen use) and not allowing it to be kept as a secret.”
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