Transcript for
Screen time: Finding a healthy balance for children and young people
Narrator (00:02):
Welcome to the Emerging Minds Families Podcast.
Alicia Ranford (Host) (00:06):
Hi, I’m Alicia Ranford and you are listening to an Emerging Minds Families podcast. In today’s digital age, screens have become an integral part of our lives, shaping how we communicate, learn, and entertain ourselves. Our children now come into contact with screens from a very early age and for many parents, it can be hard to know how to manage screen time in a healthy way. Today, we are welcoming back Nikki Taranis. Nikki is a social worker, and you might remember her from our recent conversation on the Families podcast channel where we spoke about gaming and how parents can help support their children to find a healthy balance between gaming and their other interests. If you haven’t heard this podcast, it’s a great listen. But today, we’re going to delve into the ins and outs of screen time.
(00:52):
Welcome, Nikki. Thank you so much for joining us again on the Emerging Minds Families Podcast.
Nikki Taranis (Guest) (00:57):
Thank you. So good to be here.
Alicia Ranford (Host) (01:00):
Nikki, last time you were here, we spoke in depth about gaming and how parents can help their kids find a healthy balance with their gaming habits. Today, we’re going to turn our attention to screen time, in general, and I wondered if you could start by telling us is there actually a recommended amount of screen time we should all be thinking about when we go about our daily lives?
Nikki Taranis (Guest) (01:21):
Yes, there is. There are some recommendations around screen time. I will note that all of these, they need to suit your family and what works for you and your routines and the way that you manage your everyday lives, but these are some good guidance, a lot that’s based on research and our understanding of healthy development for children. One which might be really surprising is that it’s highly encouraged actually for no screen time under two years old, and we’re seeing far more that young people having more access because of mobile phones to screen time, and we’re seeing that under the age of two, but certainly, it’s ideal to have no to absolutely minimum screen time under two years old.
(02:06):
For children who are aged two to six, we really want to limit their screen time to an hour or less a day and we want to encourage physical activity. That’s one of the best parts of healthy development for kids and so we want to create that balance, so really minimal times. From two to six, under an hour.
(02:23):
And then when children are from about six to 12, we can expand that time a little bit and that takes into account some of the changes in their lives to do with schooling and some of the screen time that may be about education. We want that to be around one to two hours, but again, limiting or moderating as much as possible towards the one hour is really fantastic and the most beneficial.
(02:46):
And then, when kids hit adolescence and they’re 12 years old and they’re sort of moving up towards 18, what we want to do is prioritise the important elements of life like physical activity, sufficient sleep, and healthy behaviours over screen time. So we might be a bit more flexible about how many hours that screen time looks like, particularly for children who are studying and are utilising screens for that nature, but we want to make sure that it’s a little bit more flexible depending on their routines. But again, balancing and prioritising things like physical activity and sleep. Most important.
Alicia Ranford (Host) (03:22):
And I can imagine many parents listening today are thinking, “Well, that’s all well and good, but in a world where we’re exposed to screens in school as a form of communication with our phones, how do we try to start setting boundaries around screen time from an early age?”
Nikki Taranis (Guest) (03:39):
Similar to discussions about gaming, we really want to set those expectations early. The earlier that caregivers can start those conversations with children, the better around what screen time looks like, what the limits are and what the boundaries are and why. Even being able to do that in a collaborative way, that can be super important so that the child feels like they’re part of that decision-making process, so that they understand why that’s happening.
(04:06):
We really want to make sure, too, that the younger they are, the more we’re structuring that screen time. So when we’ve had discussions before about gaming, we’ve talked about caregivers maybe starting to have an interest in gaming and watching and in connecting with young people to understand what they’re doing, where we really want to make sure that we’re doing these things early so we understand what they’re doing online in regards to screen time because it can be far more broad than gaming, especially when we take into things like social media.
(04:35):
So we really want to make sure that we are having those discussions early and that we are structuring the time as much as possible the younger they are and focusing on those super important things like that it’s more educative and normalised when they’re young and then having discussions about the importance of getting to engage in things like social media. It’s a really unique thing that humans get to do, that we get to connect with people from all around the world in really unique ways that could be so beneficial. But with that come a whole host of risks. So again, being really open with children and young people about what that might look like for them.
Alicia Ranford (Host) (05:12):
Are there things parents should be thinking about as their children start coming into contact with screens?
Nikki Taranis (Guest) (05:17):
Again, it’s really similar to gaming in lots of ways because we’re utilising a lot of those same mechanisms for connection and engagement online. And again, it’s likely to be sedentary, but parental involvement or caregiver involvement really is the most important thing. Guiding that use of screen time and social media from a young age, setting their expectations about what it looks like and what are positive things that they could do online and how they can engage with them really well and really responsibly.
(05:49):
They need to be aware of the really inherent dangers and risks that they take when they go online and that could be things like exposure to inappropriate content. It can be exposure to things like pornography from a young age, which I know some caregivers have some significant worries about, and also, caregivers being aware that for some children in particular, their engagement online may be far more challenging. So research has shown that social media can be far more problematic for adolescents in particular that might have issues or concerns around their mental health or are already having concerns around their self-esteem, that exposure to social media in particular can be highly challenging. So it’s for parents and caregivers to be really aware that there are these inherent challenges and that they exist for all children who are engaging in screen time.
(06:41):
I think that the other element of which I’ll talk about a fair bit that is modelling responsible behaviour. So parents engaging online and in social media in the same way that they would expect the children in their care to so that the children could look and see. Say, for instance, if they have a Facebook, they can see how their caregiver’s engaging in that world online and be directed and guided by that engagement. You’re really setting the tone for the way you expect a child to engage in that world.
Alicia Ranford (Host) (07:10):
And I know I find with my own teenagers, I try and keep up with what platforms they’re using at the moment. It changes so rapidly. My kids currently have me on BeReal, which I really don’t understand the [inaudible 00:07:24], but I do it anyway because we all have a giggle about how ridiculous mine are, but I’m imagining that’s pretty important too.
Nikki Taranis (Guest) (07:30):
Similar to gaming, but the more informed and educated that a caregiver is about what a young person’s doing online, the better. And there are. There’s so many different social media platforms today. Like you’ve said, BeReal. You’ve got TikTok. You’ve got Messenger. You have Messenger for kids. You’ve got all these different aspects like Snapchat, these different apps that have different modalities and ways of connecting online, and the more that a caregiver is aware, the better so that the can, a.), understand what they’re doing, but b.) make a decision of whether or not that is actually appropriate content for their child and their age.
Alicia Ranford (Host) (08:07):
In the media, when we are reading about exposure to screens, we often hear experts talking about nervous system arousal. Could you explain what this is to our listeners?
Nikki Taranis (Guest) (08:16):
I think these are terms that are being discussed more because we’re talking about the impact of these things on our bodies and our minds, and nervous system arousal is really talking about our physiological responses, so like our automatic reactions that happen in our body to stimuli or experiences. So these reactions that our bodies have. A lot of caregivers might’ve heard of fight, flight, [inaudible 00:08:42] freeze, these different responses that our bodies have in reaction to events, and this is something that happens in relation to screen time and in regards to things like gaming, but we’ve got some significant elements of it.
(08:56):
One, like I’ve said, is physiological arousal. Some games and some engagement in social media has been seen to increase levels of cortisol, which is our stress hormone, and has actually been shown to change our heart rate variability. We know now that things like some games and some excessive use of social media is actually impacting the way that our body’s functioning and possibly making our children and young people more stressed at times.
(09:25):
One of the other nervous system arousals or physiological responses that they might have is an emotional one. So one where they’re being impacted emotionally, and this can happen in gameplay as well as engagement consistently on social media, but something that is triggering that fight or flight response in a young person, which is increasing their heart rate and their breathing rate and changing the way their body’s functioning, which if that’s happening inconsistently or from time to time, that’s okay. That’s something that happens with our bodies in response to particular experiences. But when we’re seeing it happen again and again, it’s possibly having a negative impact on a child or young person.
(10:07):
And one of the other ones is attention arousal, which means that because of the way that we’re engaging with social media and people, there’s some terms like “doom scrolling,” but this engagement where we can’t disengage and children are finding it hard to disengage and so we’re seeing them concentrate and focus more and more on their screen time and neglect other parts of their lives. So their arousal systems are shifting just to focus on these particular elements like flicking through Instagram or TikTok’s for hours on end.
(10:39):
Some of those responses are really natural and are things that our body’s trying to indicate to us that maybe this isn’t something we need to keep doing or we need to shift activities, but often, children and young people will need guidance to identify those responses in their bodies and the ways to maybe shift activity or to move that cortisol through their body if they are feeling stressed after they play a game or they have a social media interaction and that can be guided really well by their caregivers.
Alicia Ranford (Host) (11:08):
And we’ve mentioned social media quite a lot today, and what are some of the benefits of social media? Are there any?
Nikki Taranis (Guest) (11:14):
There sure are. Absolutely. I think it’s one of those things where probably in the media, we only hear the bad stuff. Fair enough. But there are some amazing benefits to social media. Particularly, we see nowadays for children and young people, it is such an opportunity for positive social change and activism. It’s this space in which they can connect with people from around the world. They can push their critical thinking, their fact-checking skills, and they can start to discern what is reliable information and what’s not. Again, that’s super important that it is guided by caregivers and their ability to critically think because otherwise, young people might just take the information from [inaudible 00:11:55] social media. We see some young people on TikTok or Facebook and they say this is a literal fact, but it’s not. It’s just something they’ve read on one thing.
(12:04):
So it’s about teaching them about the diversity of media, but they can learn about current events and global issues in a way that we never have been able to before. And that’s fantastic for young people, again, in their understanding of the world around them and how they want to engage and interact with it. For a lot of children and young people, it can give them a really great sense of belonging, particularly if they’re not feeling that in their everyday life with the people around them. They might come from a marginalised group. They might be experiencing challenges with their gender identity or their sexuality, and it’s giving them an opportunity to explore connections or to understand themselves more through the connections that they make online. They can also share accomplishments and get positive feedback.
(12:49):
And one of the really great elements that we’re finding far more with young people who engage online is that they’re having access to things like mental health materials and resources much more excessively and readily without having to maybe broach a conversation with a family member or someone at school when they’re feeling like they’re experiencing challenges with their own mental health. Social media’s actually got… it’s got a fair few things that are really good.
Alicia Ranford (Host) (13:15):
And like with gaming, we talked about the flip side. What are some of the harms of social media that young people should be looking out for?
Nikki Taranis (Guest) (13:23):
This is something where it’s quite similar to gaming because we’re talking about a similar online platform and world, but definitely cyber-bullying. This aspect of bullying, which we’re seeing is probably a little bit more prevalent in social media because that’s the dominant form of engagement is socialisation with peers. So we’re seeing some of those issues and some of it is external to our immediate everyday lives, so bullying that might come from particular communities we’re engaging with online. Some of it can come from our peers in our everyday lives, and we’re seeing, sometimes, the conflict that happens, say, in the school yard filtering across to social media, which is a huge challenge for children and caregivers. The same challenges of exposure to inappropriate content, different types of media that maybe aren’t age appropriate or are exposing children to things like sexual or violent nature. We also can see some of those same elements as gaming like a reduction in social engagement with peers so that they can spend more time online that can have a really big impact on children.
(14:29):
Also, this thing we’re seeing far more with social media, which is FOMO, fear of missing out, this worry that the lives of others on social media are better than theirs, that they have access to more things, that they have more money than them, they have better lives, and this can have a huge impact on children’s mental health, particularly in regards to their self-esteem and feelings of anxiety and depression. That’s probably one of the absolute biggest risks because social media is controlled by the way we want ourselves to be perceived, so it’s often not fully accurate or transparent, and young people are getting an illusion that maybe other people have access or lives that are better than theirs and that they’re doing something wrong or they’ve not got what they need in life and it causes quite significant impacts on their mental health.
Alicia Ranford (Host) (15:19):
I think that’s a really significant thing for parents to consider when thinking about social media. And as a family as a whole, what do you think should be considered when navigating this space of screen time and social media?
Nikki Taranis (Guest) (15:31):
I think understanding what content you want your child or young person in your life to be exposed to is, so that age-appropriate nature of the content. Similar to gaming, it’s about understanding what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. So again, from a younger age, you’re going to want to be supporting and structuring that time quite a lot, so really dictating in a way what a young person’s watching if they’re watching particular shows, what their content is like, and that it’s far more educative than anything else. And then shifting towards allowing and supporting them with more flexibility as they grow older and they continue to engage with screen time.
(16:12):
And when it comes to social media, particularly having those open conversations about what the challenges and risks like we’ve discussed are, what some of the benefits are, and how you can support, as a caregiver, that young person to navigate that online world as safely as possible and support them to feel safe to come to you, if they do cross one of those paths of inappropriate content or someone does say something that causes an impact to them. Or even if they do feel impacted by the way other people express or demonstrate their lives on social media, that they can come and discuss that with you and say, “Look, I feel really upset because this person’s got something I don’t or they’re doing these activities that I don’t have access to” and making sure that you’re there to listen and support the young person to process that experience.
(17:03):
Setting boundaries again is super important, so making sure that you’re really clear about the expectations of what they access, how they access it, and when they access it. Monitoring it, so making sure you’ve got as much overview and oversight as possible on what they’re doing online and that can be something where you can make it quite fun and open to socially engage with them online.
(17:27):
And one of the other really important elements, again, is that modelling of healthy behaviour. So making sure that as a caregiver, that you are also not engaging in excessive time online or on social media and you are demonstrating to them the expectation that you have of their balance between screen time and other activities.
Alicia Ranford (Host) (17:48):
Nikki, thank you. You’ve provided some really practical and tangible things for our listeners today to implement at home around screen time and social media. Thank you so much for joining us again on the Emerging Minds Families podcast. It’s been great to have you.
Nikki Taranis (Guest) (18:03):
Thank you so much. It’s been great to be with you.
Narrator (18:07):
Visit our website at www.emergingminds.com.au/families for a wide range of free information and resources to help support child and family mental health. Emerging Minds leads the National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health. The Centre is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health under the National Support for Child and Youth Mental Health Program.