How much screen time is right for children? Guidelines by age
What the WHO and paediatric experts recommend for each age, and how to think about quality, not just minutes.
- Under 2: avoid screens except video calls with family.
- 2 to 5: no more than one hour a day of quality content, ideally watched together.
- 6 and older: consistent limits that protect sleep, school, activity and family time.
- What they do on screens matters as much as how long.
"How much is too much?" is one of the most common questions parents ask. Expert guidelines give clear advice for young children, and a more flexible approach for older ones.
What the guidelines say
| Age | Guidance |
|---|---|
| Under 2 | Avoid screen time, except video calls with family (the World Health Organization advises no sedentary screen time for under-2s) |
| 2 to 4 | No more than 1 hour a day, and less is better (WHO) |
| 2 to 5 | About 1 hour a day of high-quality programmes, watched with a parent where possible (American Academy of Pediatrics) |
| 6 to 12 | Consistent limits; screens shouldn't replace sleep, physical activity, homework or family time |
| 13 to 18 | Agreed limits, with a growing role for the teen in managing their own use |
For school-age children and teens, experts generally avoid a single number because screens are used for so many things: homework, calling a parent abroad, learning to code, and endless scrolling are very different.
Quality matters as much as quantity
Ask three questions about any screen activity:
- Is it active or passive? Creating, building, video-calling and learning are different from autoplay videos.
- Is it social in a healthy way? Playing with friends is different from scrolling strangers' highlight reels.
- What is it replacing? An hour of screens instead of sleep is worse than an hour instead of nothing in particular.
What should come first
Instead of starting with a number, start with what your child needs each day, then fit screens around it:
- Sleep: 10 to 13 hours for ages 3 to 5, 9 to 12 hours for ages 6 to 12, 8 to 10 hours for teens (American Academy of Sleep Medicine)
- Physical activity: about an hour a day of active play for school-age children (WHO)
- School and homework
- Meals and time with family
- Unstructured play and rest
Whatever time is left is where recreational screen time can fit.
Typical limits Filipino families use
These are starting points, not rules:
| Age | School days | Weekends |
|---|---|---|
| 6 to 8 | 30 to 60 minutes | 1 to 2 hours |
| 9 to 12 | 1 to 2 hours | 2 to 3 hours |
| 13 to 15 | 2 hours, agreed | 3 hours, agreed |
| 16 to 17 | Self-managed with check-ins | Self-managed |
Schoolwork on a device usually doesn't count toward these.
Signs the balance is off
- Sleep is suffering, or your child is tired at school
- Moods drop sharply when screens are taken away
- Less interest in friends, play or activities they used to enjoy
- Homework and chores regularly slipping
See signs of problematic screen use.
Making limits stick
- Agree limits together and write them down in a family media plan.
- Use device controls so you're not the timer every day.
- Keep screens out of bedrooms at night. See phones and sleep.
- Give warnings before time is up. See ending screen time without a meltdown.
- Model it: children notice how much you use your phone. See modeling healthy tech habits.
eGuard sets up screen time, bedtime and app rules on your child's phone and checks that each one is really on. Free for one child.