Children under the age of five should be limited to one hour of screen time a day, while under-twos should not be watching screens alone, new government guidance says.
This is the headline on the BBC Family news section published on 26th March 2026.
It advises parents to steer clear of fast-paced videos and use screens together where possible. The guidance also suggests "screen swaps" - taking screens away to read stories together or playing simple games at mealtimes.
We all know how 'useful' it may be to have a screen handy to occupy a young child when we have other things to do but there are clearly downsides to unlimited screen time. The use of digital entertainment is a wholly passive process. Kids colouring, drawing, making things playing games with each other and many other activities that create the rounded personality are missing if the diet is limited to screen time of gaming.
Parents need to create a digital plan for their families. We know that young children live in a hi-tech world and they need to become familiar with it. This doesnt mean total uncontolled access to devices. There are screen time controls for all devices which remove the need to direct intervetion but create a timetable of access which children soon become familier with. Make the restrictions the norm and it will become part of their daily activities.
Read the ful story here.