How long is the most suitable time for children to play with their phones in a day

It is recommended that preschool children use electronic screens for no more than 1 hour per day, and primary and secondary school students should not use them for more than 30 minutes at a time. The duration of electronic screen usage is mainly related to factors such as age, eye health, learning needs, social activities, and family rules.

1. Age factors

Infants and young children under 2 years old should try to avoid exposure to electronic screens as much as possible, as this stage is a critical period for visual development. It is advisable for preschool children aged 3-6 to limit their daily cumulative usage time to 20-40 minutes, and it is recommended to divide it into 2-3 sessions. Primary school students aged 7-12 can extend it to 60 minutes per day, but it is necessary to ensure that the single use does not exceed half an hour. During adolescence, it may be appropriate to relax to 1-120 minutes per day, but priority should be given to ensuring sleep and outdoor activities.

2. Eye Health

continuously staring at the screen for more than 20 minutes can easily cause visual fatigue. It is recommended to gaze at objects 6 meters away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes. The screen brightness should be coordinated with the ambient light and maintain a viewing distance of 50-70 centimeters. Night use requires turning on eye protection mode to avoid blue light affecting melatonin secretion. Stop using immediately when experiencing symptoms of visual fatigue such as frequent blinking and eye rubbing.

III. Learning Needs

Online educational content can be appropriately extended by 10-15 minutes, but it is necessary to ensure that the content has educational value. Creative screen activities such as programming and painting can be increased in duration as appropriate, but a 10 minute break is required every 45 minutes. Prohibit the use of entertainment screens during the completion of homework to avoid distractions that may affect learning efficiency.

4. Social Activities

Social use such as video calls is not included in entertainment screen time, but should not exceed 15 minutes per session. Multiplayer collaborative electronic games can be regarded as social activities, with a total weekly duration controlled within 3 hours. Avoid social media interactions one hour before bedtime to prevent emotional fluctuations from affecting sleep.

V. Family Rules

It is recommended to establish a family convention for screen usage, clarifying the management of the difference between study days and rest days. Set screen free time periods for occasions such as dining, family gatherings, etc. Points based management can be used to redeem screen time after completing learning tasks. Parents should lead by example to reduce unnecessary use and jointly maintain healthy digital lifestyle habits.

In addition to controlling the duration, it is recommended to prioritize educational and creative content as alternatives to passive entertainment. Ensuring 2 hours of outdoor activity every day can effectively prevent myopia. Regularly conduct vision screening and establish a vision health record. Parents should pay attention to the quality of their children's use of content and avoid exposure to harmful information. Cultivate offline interests such as paper reading and handmade crafts, and help establish diversified leisure activities. When there is a tendency towards internet dependence, it can be gradually adjusted by increasing parent-child interaction, developing sports hobbies, and other methods.