Commentary: We simply cannot leave our children to their own devices

HOW MUCH SCREEN TIME IS TOO MUCH?

To minimise unhealthy screen usage, the Ministry of Health issued guidelines in March 2023 recommending that children under 18 months should not have any screen time. Those aged between 18 months and 36 months should have no more than one hour a day.

I wish there were guidelines on total screen time use for children above three, but that may already be in the works.

On Jun 21, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung and Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli said in separate Facebook posts that initiatives to deal with device usage will be announced in the coming months.

“Electronic devices and social media have become part of our lives. Our young need to use them properly, to enhance their lives, and not inadvertently undermine their mental wellness. We will need more decisive and effective measures to shape the habit of device usage.”

Authorities are also developing a new regulatory code to require app stores to implement measures to verify the age of users, so that children will be protected from downloading age-inappropriate apps.

In the meantime, consider the advice from social psychologist Jonathan Haidt who wrote the book The Anxious Generation. He recommends that children not be given smartphones until they are in secondary school.

Some may say that their children need to have smartphones as they are needed for class interactions, or for parents to keep track of their children when they travel alone. I agree, but we have to consider the documented downsides of early smartphone use.

When my children, now 19 and 21, were in primary school, my wife and I gave them “dumb phones” with no internet access. They could make phone calls to their friends and family, but not surf the web or social media.