Two thirds of parents notice negative effects of screen time on their children

05 February 2024 , 19:00

1261     0

Parents are worried about negative effects of too much screen time (Image: Getty Images)

More than two thirds of parents have spotted negative effects in their child if they spend too much time looking at screens, a poll shows.

The research comes after Rishi Sunak declined to give his backing to calls by the mum of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey for social media apps to be banned on smartphones for under-16s.

Nearly half of parents (49%) are concerned about the amount of time kids spend looking at phones and tablets, with 53% of children spending more than two hours a day in front of screens. Parents overwhelmingly cited concerns around the lack of time spent outdoors or exercising, not getting homework done, and negative effects on their mental health.

Some 88% of parents are trying to cut down their child's screen time - and more than a third (34%) find it more difficult to get their kids to put away their screens than to do homework or chores around the house.

Esther Ghey, right, with her daughter Brianna who was murdered last year

Matt Buttery, Chief Executive of Triple P UK and Ireland, which commissioned the research, said: “The amount of time children are spending on screens is becoming an increasingly pressing concern for parents in the UK, particularly following the pandemic. Research has shown that, whilst children do gain benefits from accessing social and educational information online, too much screen time can negatively affect children’s healthy development.”

Double killer who slit girlfriend's throat within weeks of release jailed

Esther Ghey is calling for a law to ensure phones are "suitable" for kids and for software to alert parents to potentially harmful content their child could be searching. Her 16-year-old transgender daughter Brianna was killed last year by Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, who were jailed for life last week for her murder.

The pair, who planned the murder using a messaging app, lured her to a park and stabbed her 28 times in broad daylight. Jenkinson had watched videos of torture and murder online. In a moving interview on BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Ms Ghey said: “We’d like a law introduced so that there are mobile phones that are only suitable for under-16s.

The Prime Minister said his thoughts were with Brianna's family after such an "unspeakable, unspeakable, awful act" but declined to say whether the Government might consider such a proposal. He said: "As a parent, I am always worried about social media and what my young girls are exposed to.

"That's why I'm pleased we have passed the Online Safety Act over the last year and that means the regulator now has tough new powers to control what is exposed to children online. And if the big social media companies do not comply with that, the regulator is able to levy very significant fines on them and the priority now is making sure that act is up and running."

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said the Government wants to ban phones in schools, which she said were "damaging" for kids. The Government has promised to introduce guidance to outlaw mobiles during the school day but it is not legally binding - and unions have branded it unenforceable.

:: 2,000 people were polled between October 13-18. Respondents were parents who are nationally representative by gender, age, social class, and region.

Lizzy Buchan