7 year old screen time

[Itsascreentime]

So ideally I don't want to hear from mums/dads who don't own any screens, abhorr screen time and think it's the devil. I'd like to hear from those normal families where screen time is a part of life but doesn't rule life.

My 7 year old doesn't have her own device but sometimes uses our phones to play suitable games and watch YouTube Kids. She now has roblox (not allowed to use the chat feature and is very mature about it - I fully explained to her that anyone could be at the end of the chat and it may not be suitable which she is happy with - she just wants to play the game)

However due to roblox she seems to have got quite into screen time- she starts junior school in September and we were going to get her own tablet to do homework (it's all online) and to have some set screen time per day I.e 1 hour a day? She currently has maybe 30 mins a day on weekdays around school and maybe 1-2 hours a day (mixture of games or youtube Kids) at the weekends.

Do you set time limits for your kids? What do you feel is acceptable?

YABU that's too much
YANBU she could have more screen time

My dc is same age. We have 2 family tablets they are allowed use occasionally, typically if school set homework games etc. Not allowed on it daily. Goes on once in the week for 30 mins while younger sibling has dance class, probably another 30 min session on weekend. I don't allow roblox, you tube or any exposure at all to social media. The only game we have is minecraft. Games on small screens are really addictive so I've tried to avoid but we will allow a nintendo DS plugged into tv next year as it seems almost all peers have one.

You didn’t add a that’s a good balance button so this is me adding one!

I think that’s a pretty good balance tbh.

My children probably have similar, potentially less but I don’t think it’s too bad. My big issue is what people let their kids watch on YouTube because much of what’s allowed on kids with parental controls is seriously not suitable and can just get mixed up with things that are fine.

So in terms of screen time I’d say perfect but I personally wouldn’t allow YouTube (even kids)

It's so dependent on the individual circumstances and what you call screen time. Are you including TV in that?

At that age we didn't so much set time limits, as a time when it went off. So he might have one hour or three hours, but the off time was the off time. This was just before the evening meal so there was a routine around it, then nothing after that.

And after dinner was adult relaxation/TV time, so don't bother asking for Xbox etc after dinner because mum says no!

And no screens in bedrooms, phones are charged downstairs overnight. We stuck to that too. Obviously things change as they grow older, but it's easier to loosen boundaries as appropriate, than tighten them.

Don’t have a time limit, but does have to complete things like music practice or reading book first. Usually has a kickabout in the garden or might have a club, so effectively I think that limits it to 30 mins to an hour a day by default. Unless it’s raining and/or I am really busy, in which case I am willing to overlook quite a lot!

My 7 year old DS has an Amazon fire and a switch. He usually has about half an hour in the evening after school and a couple of hours on a Saturday morning. He might play on his switch in the car if we're on a long journey. Sounds like a good amount of time to me

My 8 year old has similar. I've only just started allowing YouTube again after a 3 year ban. I really wish I hadn't! It's so easy for them to watch unsuitable stuff.

Be careful with roblox too. Even with the age restrictions put on, some unsuitable stuff was sneaking through. We went through a stage where we had a list stuck up on the fridge of suitable/unsuitable roblox games and I had to check each new game before they were allowed to play it. Not fun at all!

I think the amount of time you're allowing on screens is fine though.

A 3 year ban?! Wow what did they do to deserve that 😄 just joking.

Sage advice thank you, I hadn't realised that about Roblox I think I need to check it out a bit more.

Those 3 years without YouTube were so lovely! I bitterly regret letting it seep back in. The 8 year old wants to be an engineer when he grows up so I let him watch some engineering videos on there. He must have been targeted with all kinds of weird stuff though because I caught him attempting to down a pint of milk the other day and it turns out he'd been watching all these videos about how to 'bulk up' 😳.

I don't think I'd lump time watching YouTube together with time playing video games, unless you restrict tv-watching too.

So long as your child has a range of interests, I don't think restrictions on video game time are necessary or a good thing. I grew up loving video games and never had any specific time restrictions but had lots of other out-of-school activities that I enjoyed too, so it's not as if I spent every evening with a controller in my hand.

I think that strictly-enforced and (particularly to a child) seemingly arbitrary limits around game time are more likely to facilitate obsessiveness and poor behavior than simply making sure that they have and enjoy other activities too.

My 5 yr old has a lot more that! About 1-1.5hr/day or 2-3hrs on rainy/lazy weekends. I have started trying to reduce the amount. However I've noticed his 2 non english languages have suffered from reduced screen time so trying to balance is my main concern rather than no of hours. Or so i tell myself.

I think you should get a copy of Jonathan Haidt's book -"The Anxious Generation - the great Rewiring of Childhood" and read it.

I absolutely love minecraft and started playing myself. I do think a time limit is necessary for a child's eye health though esp with something as close as an ipad. I try to make sure DC keeps some distance.

You'll find out what works well for you with a bit of trial and error.

I read that giving time limits is a mistake because it just makes screens more exciting, but actually my kids need limits. If I don't set a time limit, they'd stay on their iPads all day.

Equally I resisted letting them on their screens right before bed but then realised that it works better for us if there is an understanding that they can only go on screens on weekdays once homework etc is all done, which is obviously pretty close to bedtime. It works for us though so I'm not getting too hung up about it.