Wellbeing

Screen time and digital technology use: part of a healthy lifestyle

Screen time and digital technology use are normal parts of life for most children and teenagers. The time your child spends watching TV and using computers, gaming consoles, smart toys, tablets and smartphones can be part of a healthy lifestyle.

It’s all about making sure of these key things:

• Children enjoy plenty of healthy, fun activities, both with and without screens, including physical activity, reading, creative play and social time with family and friends.
• When children do use screens, they watch or use quality content.

And don’t forget sleep! A healthy, balanced lifestyle for children includes enough good-quality sleep.

Checklist for a healthy approach to screen time and digital technology use

These questions can help you check whether your child is using screens and digital technology in a balanced and healthy way.

Is your child:

• sleeping enough?
• physically healthy?
• mentally and emotionally healthy?
• engaged with school?
• connecting socially with family and friends, online and offline?
• enjoying a variety of hobbies and interests?
• doing physical activity every day?
• having fun and learning while using screens?
• using quality content?

If you answer yes to most or all of these questions, your child is probably using digital technology in a balanced way as part of a healthy lifestyle.

Questions or concerns about screen time and digital technology use

It’s OK to have questions or concerns about whether your family has a healthy and balanced approach to screen time and digital technology use. A range of articles including tips and suggestions to help can be found at: https://raisingchildren.net.au/babies/play-learning/media-technology/screen-time