Screen time: New limits needed in New Zealand schools, experts say

The recommendations said 2 to 5-year-olds should have "minimal" screen time in sessions of no more than 10 to 15 minutes. Photo / Getty Images

New limits are needed for screen time in New Zealand schools, say a group of experts who found that excessive use of digital technologies was linked to poor physical and mental health in young people.

New Zealand children have some of the highest rates of screen use in the developed world, partly because of the early adoption and widespread use of digital devices in classes.

A New Zealand Medical Journal (NZMJ) editorial published today said these technologies offered great benefits to young people but also presented a risk of harm. The editorial was based on a review of 10 years of studies on the positive and negative impacts of screen time on young people’s health.

“What we found was that some use of digital technologies can actually support health for children, particularly for teenagers,” said Julie Cullen, a paediatric physiotherapist and co-author of the editorial. “So for example, they can look up health information, they can play some active fitness games or make connections.

“But we found that frequent and extended use of technologies is associated with the risk of harm across numerous areas of children’s health.”

The review found it was difficult to define “excessive” screen time but most of the identified harms were linked to daily screen use of two to six hours a day. Young New Zealanders could exceed that limit with educational screen time alone, the editorial said.

This level of screen time was associated with poorer eye health, hearing loss from headphones, repetitive strain injuries and headaches. What was being watched did not matter. These risks existed whether a child was doing homework or watching TikTok, Cullen said.

When it came to mental health, the most important factors were the quality of what was being observed, the age of the user, and whether they were watching it alone or with others.

The researchers also reviewed international legislation and guidelines and developed recommendations in consultation with experts, schools and officials.

The Ministry of Health provides guidelines for recreational screen time, saying that it should be zero for under 2-year-olds, less than an hour a day for children aged 2 to 5, and less than two hours a day for 5 to 17-year-olds.

The recommendations in the NZMJ editorial are focused on screen time within schools and are more detailed than the ministry’s guidelines. They propose “minimal” screen time for 2 to 5-year-olds with maximum session times of 10 to 15 minutes.

Six to 12-year-olds should spend no more than a third of their school day on screens and with maximum session times of 20 minutes. The recommendations also cover earphone use, outdoor activities and using screens in groups.

Mt Eden Normal principal Alan Jackson welcomed the recommendations, saying there was no national guidance on technology use within classes and a relatively low level of awareness of associated health and safety concerns. It was generally perceived as a problem linked to recreational use of screens, he said.

Jackson said many schools had “gone down the rabbit hole” with technology and integrated digital learning into reading, writing, maths and other areas of learning without fully considering the consequences.

“I do have concerns that as a sector it’s become more pervasive than perhaps it should and I don’t believe there’s any evidence that has actually improved the achievement or the wellbeing of children of any age within schools.”

His primary school of nearly 600 students aimed for a “balanced” approach which ensured children were “capable but discerning” users of technology, he said. IPads and Chromebooks were used in classes but students did not have a device each and used them collaboratively, he said.

A Ministry of Education spokeswoman said the ministry welcomed the review and its recommendations, which provided clarity to the education sector on how to safely use devices for learning outcomes.

Cullen said she hoped the recommendations would be more than just a resource. She noted that the United Nations General Assembly had recently highlighted the digitisation of education and called for urgent discussion and regulation of the impacts of using these technologies within schooling.

“So I think we urgently need to be considering this. We’re part of the UN and I hope that these recommendations do go some way to meeting those requirements and supporting our young people.”

Isaac Davison is an Auckland-based reporter who covers health issues. He joined the Herald in 2008 and has previously covered the environment, politics and social issues.