Screen time guidance does not go far enough | Letters

Readers respond to new government advice to limit screen time to under an hour for under-fives, and restrict it to ‘slow-paced’ media content

While I fully support the government’s guidance to parents of under-fives to keep screen time to under an hour a day (Keep under-fives’ screen time to no more than an hour a day, UK advice says, 27 March), this does not go far enough. Children do not only experience screens at home; they also encounter them in early childhood settings and schools.

Contrary to the advice given in the new guidance for parents, the government requires all children to complete a screen-based test within their first six weeks at primary school. The Reception Baseline Assessment takes up 20 minutes of their daily screen time. Teachers are not able to interact with the child while doing the test as they must follow a script. This contradicts the advice for parents, which suggests that the best form of screen use involves adults interacting with their children while using screens.