Do you think this screen time schedule is okay for a 7 year old?

[foreveryoungjustkidding]

Me and my ex are trying to come up with a screen time (phone) schedule for daughter. We have been fairly relaxed about screen time but now realise she's spending far too much time on her phone and would sit on it all day if we would let her.

We have come up with this schedule -

Monday - 6 - 6.45

Tuesday - 5.15 - 6 (due to after school activities)

Wednesday - 6 - 6.45

Thursday - 6 - 6.45

Friday - bit more relaxed/depends what plans are etc

Saturday - 2 - 2.30 (can be flexible depending on what she’s doing but 30 minutes in afternoon) and 1.5 hours at night

Sunday - 2 - 2.30 (can be flexible depending on what she’s doing but 30 minutes in afternoon) and 6 - 6.45.

Does this seem too strict? Too relaxed? Too much screen time still?

Thanks.

@Elisheva

My children (14, 11 and 7) have no restrictions on their screen time. They have tablets, Xbox, TV, Switch, Occulus to choose from and the older two have phones. They also have toys, craft stuff, games, books, trampoline to choose from, plus a playground across the road. I encourage them to self-regulate their activities, and support them to do so.

We're the same and all my kids are lovely and happy and doing well in school... plus beat saber is a pretty good workout! ;)

She totally has her own phone doesn't she OP? Come on - be honest 😁 I don't know any parent (both you and you ex?) who would part with their own phone that often, particularly since when my DC have screen time you can guarantee I'm spending that peace and quiet time with a cup of coffee and my own phone.

If I'm right then I think it is unreasonable as DC that age really shouldn't have a phone. The schedule for screen time seems fine though I would encourage tv as opposed to a phone/iPad etc.

People are getting really hung up about whether the op's dd has her own phone. If her dd doesn't have free reign on it then does it really matter? Not that different to having an iPad which a lot of children have despite what the mn alternate universe think.

I don't really see the point in not letting children have access to ipads or tablets, tech is a huge part of our world now and I don't see how half an hour or so a day of games and YouTube is harmful when it's part of a while day of variety of activities.

Schedules are for prisoners.

We don’t have these arbitrary screen schedules in our house either.

No YouTube access, but she has a tablet for games, usually construction type, Lego etc.
TV is in the sitting room so I can see what she chooses; operation ouch, pets factor, grizzly.

DD does sport after school for between 1-3 hours depending. If she wants to flop and watch tv or game whilst I cook, why should that be a problem?

OP. My DD has her own phone. She doesn't have a schedule I just tell her that's enough
Yours sounds more than reasonable
Kids use iPads in school these days

It sounds very rigid. I have an almost seven year old. We don't really regulate screen time but if she has been on something for a while we will tell her that's enough. For all the people horrified at screen use, her school have signed them all up to a maths app which she does every evening. She's pretty good at self-regulating most of the time - she'll watch a bit and then go and play with Lego or go out in the garden or something.

I think it's completely dependent on the child. My 6 year old has an iPad and Switch and I don't really restrict screen time unless I think it's been too long and then I'll say to have a break. He's pretty good with it. The only real rule is no screens in his bedroom. No exceptions. Also as PP has said, I tend to use screen time for my advantage; when I'm cooking dinner or putting washing away or when I don't want to get up at 7am on a Sunday .

I clicked on this thread with interest as I have a 7 year old who would goggle at you tube all day if she could. It got so bad during lockdown, especially the long winter one, as we both work full time and even at weekends it was often too cold, wet and dark for any walks. Plus H is a bit of a Disney dad and doesn't like saying no to her (grrrr).

When she went back to school in March we agreed the following:

Tablet from wake up to leaving for childminder, provided she does not slack on getting dressed etc. Works out about half an hour (not an early riser!)

No tablet after school Monday to Thursday. She goes to after school club or childminder so not home until 6. If she does her spelling and reading practice she can have a bit of telly but we've taken the you tube app off it (got wise to that one haha).

Weekends - can have tablet from wake up until breakfast. We're lazy at the weekends and breakfast is often after 10 so it can be up to a couple of hours tablet time. She moans when we take it off her but she then has ballet lesson on sat and swimming lesson on sun so is soon distracted. No more tablet time until 5pm (until dinner, which again we have later than most uk families so 2-3 hours tablet time). This also applies on Friday evening.

Many will say that still seems far too much but I'm much happier with that than the vast amounts she was having in lockdown which I felt queasily guilty about. In the afternoons she plays with her toys, looks at books, helps with housework (bonus!) and comes for walks without moaning. She is allowed tv if she wants but often doesn't ask. This works for us.

Oh and for those saying schedules are too regimented, before I had kids I would have agreed. I'm quite a relaxed parent in general. But some kids just don't self regulate! The more time my daughter spent on her tablet the more horrible and "teenage" she became. Boundaries are good for her. It's been really nice to see her renewed interest in playing with her dolls imaginatively and stuff like that.

I have an older child as well but there is a decade between them and tablets for kids weren't really a thing when he was that age so this issue is all a bit new to me!

IMO

Every day is too much.

Too close to bedtime.

Does she want to go on it every day? Or has it just become expected? Would you stop her playing with toys at 6am because it's 'phone time'?

Mumsnet can be such a strange place compared to the real world.

8 year old ds no schedule but the rule is no phone time after dinner so he has a clear 2 hours before bed and regular breaks and he has to ask for games, he can’t just download freely, he’s not allowed any games with a chat function. We don’t own a tablet so he uses one of our old phones as a tablet - I don’t understand the people saying no to using a phone as a screen but happily give a tablet, I’m not sure the screen size will have an impact 🤔.

We’ve never limited tv time.

Ds is able to self regulate, happily finds other things to do, reads loads, greater depth at everything at school so I’m not worried about screen time.
Fwiw the majority of kids in my class at school all have their own phones (mainly iPhones, brand new not even second hand) and we’re talking yr2 so 6 and 7. I think a much bigger issue is young kids having free access to games that are over their age limit, a lot of the kids in my class play fortnite and other violent games and this really does have an impact on their behaviour.

Mine watch tv in the morning because their "playing with toys" at 6am is too bloody loud.

My son is similar age.

I think every day is too much, in my opinion. We do two short afternoon sessions while his sister is at clubs, and two longer weekend sessions. But we are somewhat flexible.

That way it’s a tiny bit of a treat rather than normal routine every single day.

He uses a family Tablet.

Nearly 8 yr old DD has no tablet/ screen in the week- gets home from school at 5.15 ( not in the UK) then free play, homework, dinner shower bed time with books. at most she might FaceTime her granny.
Weekends- about 1-2 hour a day on Netflix / kid you tube. Coincides with when her younger sister naps and is known as quiet time in the house.
Doesn’t use tablet as a way to connect with friends.
Works for us.
I think 1-2 hours per day in the week is a lot but then I grew up in a house where TV was not really allowed/ encouraged.

At our school no one has a phone before year six, and some not until year seven.

It’s not the case everywhere that little children are spending lots of time on screens.

In the infants - which is what a seven year old is. Then from the playground conversation no one is playing computer games.

Phones for kids weren’t a thing when our eldest was 7. Just didn’t occur to us with our youngest because he was busy doing real-life things, there was just no need.

I'm just wondering if setting such a schedule may end up with her using the screen where she may have done something else naturally, if that makes sense. Could you set a weekly time limit, but not so structured.

I don't limit screen time at all for my almost 8 year old. He doesn't have a phone but has a Nintendo switch. We leave at 7.15 in the morning so he doesn't have much time to use it before school. After school he likes to play football in the garden with me until about 5pm when I go in to cook dinner, then we eat about 6pm. So I'd say he uses it for about 2 hours a day. On weekends we are usually out and about, we are not homebodies and like to be doing days out/hobbies.

To be honest I don't do anything apart from watch TV when I'm home anyway so I'd be a hypocrite to say no to DS doing it!

The amount of time you are suggesting is fine IMO, I have an 8yr old. But they don’t have their own phone and I don’t allow roblox or YouTube. They have a tablet which has set parental controls.