What 7 Hours a Day on Screens Really Looks Like for a Child

A new survey discovered that some children are spending up to seven hours a day—or more—on phones and tablets. For many families, this isn’t a shock, but what does that number really mean for children?

First of all, let’s break this down.

A day in the life of a child using their phones

Seven hours or more a day; that’s the same amount of time normally spent at school, or a day at work. So, how is this spread out in their day-to-day life?

We came up with a rough estimate of how these hours could be used below:

All together, this adds up to 7 whole hours that a child may spend on their phone after school on a regular weekday. On weekends, there is a reported increase to 9 hours or more of screentime.

If there is such an increase in screentime just from the weekend alone, with the start of summer holidays, just how much will this figure increase?

Impact of screentime

While not all screentime is harmful, prolonged exposure – especially without breaks – can come with side effects.

• Sleep disruption from late-night scrolling or blue light exposure
• Mood swings or anxiety, especially with constant social media use
• Attention and memory issues due to fast-paced content rewiring brain patterns
• Reduced physical activity increases the risk of weight gain
• Less real-world interaction makes social development harder

What is being done to manage this growing screen time?

The UK government is looking at different ways that it can limit the time spent on social media and is considering introducing tougher online safety measures to limit the amount of time children can spend on social media.

A two-hour cap per social media app is one of the proposals made from this issue, however it is worthy to note that these screen limits are already available for parents who use parental controls. Furthermore, since 2023, TikTok has introduced a default 60-minute screen time limit for users under 18. However, as it can be switched off, the survey has noted that about three-quarters of children admitted to turning off this time limit function.

Parents are also setting rules at home to tackle this increase in free time over the holidays and to limit phone time such as making children leave phones downstairs at bedtime, blocking use of certain apps and trying to get their children into alternative offline games and activities. 

How else can phone time be managed?

Following phones being banned in schools, there are multiple schools throughout the UK that are testing out lockable phone pouches to help manage phone bans effectively.

With a simple locking mechanism that can only be unlocked with a special magnet unlocker, there’s no reason why these pouches can’t be used at home. Certainly, Phone Locker’s pouches could be a parent’s tool to help manage their children’s screen time over the upcoming Summer holidays, instead getting them to mix with the family and play outside.

Balancing screentime is linked to reduced anxiety and stress, increased language and cognitive development, which can only be good for family life. So whilst it can be tough for parents, the rewards are worth it beyond the school day.