IN a research finding published by Pew Research Centre, 66 per cent of parents in the United States said that parenting is harder today than it was 20 years ago, with many citing technology — like social media or smartphones — as being the main reason.

One of the most highly discussed topics among parents today is screen time. How much is too much? And what impact will screens have on children's development? Amid these growing questions, the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued guidelines last year on the amount of time young children should spend in front of screens.

According to the strict new guidelines, there should be no screen time for children younger than 2 years old, while it should only be 60 minutes a day for those between 3 and 4 years old.

In an interview with WBUR, Boston's NPR news radio station, WHO's Fiona Bull, who oversaw the process behind the new recommendations, admitted that the trend is worrying.

"We're concerned — and the evidence shows — that extended periods of time passively watching screens is detrimental to health, particularly for very young children," she said regarding the recommendations, which are focused on children under the age of below 5 years old.

According to Bull, the detriments to children who are overly exposed to screens are in the areas of cognitive development, language skills, and motor skills, among others.

"There are alternatives, like interacting with children through play, so they're experiencing physical and motor development, muscular-skeletal development, cognitive and language development — things which are all part of a healthy development for children under 5," she added.

FIND QUALITY TIME

Parents might be wondering whether these guidelines would be difficult to adhere to. However, Bull believes that screen-time restrictions will still leave room for family time, such as watching TV or playing an educational game. It's the continuous, passive use of gadgets for lengthy periods of time that we must watch out for.

Ultimately, according to WHO, the goal is to promote physical activity, limit sedentary time and ensure children are also getting enough sleep. For young children, they should be getting a good, uninterrupted sleep of between 10 and 13 hours per night.

But, the Pew Research Centre pointed out that the issue of screen time isn't limited to children alone. Parents are also guilty of their own device distractions. When asked if they spend too much, too little or not enough time on their phone, more than half of parents overall (56 per cent) replied that they spend too much time on their smartphone, while about seven in 10 (68 per cent) said they get distracted sometimes by their phone when spending time with the children.

As such, it's clear that screen time is already taking over good old quality time. Before we start blaming the younger ones, honestly asses our own usage. The good news is we can live with both old and new ways of spending time.

We can do so by ensuring that the family still indulges in sufficient physical activities and that screen time never interferes with their quality sleep. If we're able to do so, we can rest easy knowing that we're giving them the best of both worlds.

Zaid Mohamad coaches and trains parents to experience happier homes and more productive workplaces. Reach him at [email protected].