Screen Exposure in School-Age Children

Screens are now an integral part of daily life for school-age children—they use them for learning, entertainment, communicating with friends, and consuming content.

Technology offers many benefits, and children at this age already have the skills to make the most of them: they can read, understand complex stories, follow a plot, and grasp educational messages. High-quality, age-appropriate programs and websites can support learning—help with language learning, introduce other cultures, build creative thinking, and strengthen reading and writing skills. At the same time, school-age children still greatly need social interaction, physical activity, play, and creative activities, so screen use should be balanced with social, academic, and physical activities.

Excessive and unmonitored screen use can negatively affect several areas:

• Academic performance and attention in class.
• Sleep quality.
• Eye health.
• Physical health (eating habits, physical activity).
• Mental well-being.
• Social well-being.

So how can you get it right? Here are the recommendations.

• Maintaining balance: It is important to ensure a balance between screen time and other activities, such as spending time with friends, sports, hobbies, and non-screen-based play. Many children benefit from a structured daily routine that includes activities like extracurricular classes or youth movements.
• Open communication: Even if your child no longer needs close supervision, it is important to talk with them from time to time about the content they are watching, who they are communicating with on social media, what content they are posting, and how they feel about it. It is important to reinforce safety rules, especially regarding platforms that allow interaction with strangers, encourage critical thinking, and promote openness so children feel safe reporting any inappropriate person or content they encounter.
• Avoid screen time close to bedtime: It is important to stop screen use at least one hour before sleep to avoid disrupting sleep quality.
• Screen-free meals: It is recommended to keep mealtimes as family time without screens. Family meals have significant value for communication and routine, and avoiding phones, background TV, or any other screens helps encourage interaction between family members.
• Take breaks: Encourage children to take a break from screens every hour, move their bodies, and rest their eyes.
• Delay use of social media: Many countries restrict social media use until age 16 due to its potential negative impact on adolescent mental health. Heavy social media use is associated with increased feelings of loneliness, fewer in-person social interactions, higher risk behaviors and self-harm, poorer body image, and reduced attention. While it can be difficult to restrict access when peers are using it, it is recommended to delay entry into social media as much as possible, guide children in its use, and limit screen time.
• Delay purchasing a smart device as long as possible: Providing a smart device to children is a major turning point that significantly changes screen habits and is difficult to reverse. For safety and communication purposes, it is recommended to start with basic phones instead.

Screen Effects on Vision in School-Age Children

Prolonged screen use among school-age children—both during learning and leisure time, especially when viewing at close distance—may lead to computer vision syndrome (also known as digital eye strain), which can cause headaches, dry eyes, blurred vision, and eye fatigue. Heavy screen use may also contribute to pediatric dry eye disease.

To help protect children’s eyes, it is recommended to encourage and remind them to follow these steps:

• Follow the 20-20-6 rule: Every 20 minutes, look at something more than 6 meters away for 20 seconds.
• Maintain proper viewing distance: More than 30 cm from the screen to reduce eye muscle strain.
• Take movement breaks: Get up and move every hour.
• Limit prolonged viewing: Avoid continuous screen use for more than one hour.
• Control screen brightness: Use the highest comfortable brightness, and switch to night mode in the evening with warmer light and reduced blue light.
• Encourage outdoor activity: Time spent outdoors in natural light supports eye health.

Cellular Radiation and Children’s Health in School Age

The effects of exposure to cellular radiation in children have not yet been studied in depth. However, due to children’s higher sensitivity and their long life expectancy (which includes prolonged exposure to devices), a precautionary approach is recommended.

Some helpful recommendations include:

• Set an example: In all interactions with children—such as conversations, meals, or homework time—put the phone aside. You can also encourage children to do the same.
• Use headphones or speaker mode: Prefer wired headphones (not wireless) or use speaker mode. The farther the device is from the body, the better.
• Reduce exposure: Limit phone use during social and family events, before bedtime, and during meals.

More information on cellular radiation

Parents’ Screen Use: A Key Factor

Even as children grow older, parents’ example continues to have a strong influence. Children who see their parents constantly “attached” to their phones internalize this as normal behavior and expect the same for themselves. When your child approaches to talk and you are on your phone, they may feel that the phone is more important than them.

Some important points to consider:

• During meals and family conversations, parents should also put their phones aside.
• When parents use their phones in the presence of children, they are less available for connection and conversation. Even at school age, children need to know there is an adult who is present and listening. Always put the phone aside during conversations with your child. If something is urgent, explain that you need to take the call, and return to the conversation afterward.

In summary, although screens can be a useful and enjoyable tool during school age, it is important to maintain clear boundaries such as limiting use to up to two hours per day, ensuring age-appropriate content, taking regular breaks, having open conversations about what children are watching, and maintaining a balance between screen time and other activities. The goal is to help children use technology in a healthy and balanced way.