Do they have devices in their bedroom?  

During COVID lockdowns, children spent almost 27 more hours each week on their screens compared to pre-pandemic levels. That’s more than one full day extra on their smart phones, tables, computers and television. 

According to the Deakin University study, the greatest changes were among children aged between five and 12 years old.

Research suggests these figures have dropped – but not significantly. And, one of the biggest differences has been the time children are spending on devices in their own rooms, particularly in the evening hours. 

The risks 

When we allow screens into children’s bedrooms we often struggle to really know: 

• What they are doing or watching
• How long they are doing it for
• Who they are doing it with

While there are systems available to help manage these, the truth is that no application is needed if the devices are only used in common areas of the house.  

Bedrooms are naturally a private space. We wouldn’t invite a stranger to arrives at our doorstep into our bedrooms – but many people, and children are doing just this through their screens. An increase in bullying behaviour, mental health challenges and risk-taking in children is strongly correlated with increased screen time – particularly when it happens in the bedroom. 

The Impact 

Amongst all of these social risks, one of the biggest impacts of devices in bedrooms is on sleep. 

Getting enough, quality sleep is not only a predictor of short-term success and emotional regulation, but of life-long health and wellbeing. In short, it’s important we help our kids get enough – and screens at bed time do the exact opposite. 

A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that children aged six to 18 had an 88 percent higher risk of not sleeping enough when devices were in the bedroom and a 53 percent higher risk of getting a bad night’s sleep – and that’s when devices were in the bedroom just three nights a week.  

What does that mean? If kids have devices in their bedrooms its likely they aren’t getting enough good quality sleep. And tired kids struggle to focus and learn, manage their emotions, and eat and exercise properly. 

Steps you can take 

Dr Justin Coulsen has this to say, ‘Whether it’s messing with their brain, impacting their relationships, affecting their physical health, or leading to depression, there are no strong reasons to put a screen into your child’s bedroom.’ 

So what can you do? 

The simplest, and perhaps hardest thing to do is say ‘no’. If the ‘no screens in the bedroom’ rule already exists in your home, keep at it.  

If it’s a battle you need to take up here are some ideas to get you started: 

• Move it, don’t lose it: Remind your kids that (at least at this stage) you’re not taking their device away, just asking them to use it in a different place.
• Swap it out: Put in the effort to start a new and engaging routine that replaces the screen in the bedroom. Could it be a TV show you watch together, an evening game or project you can work on, or a new toy they can play with?
• Find alternatives: Some children may feel they need a phone or other device to use as an alarm clock; so, take them shopping to buy an actual alarm clock they love.
• Have clear, compassionate and collaborative conversations: Talk with the children about their screen time experiences with (age appropriate) questions such as: what is positive about them, what negative impacts do they feel or have heard about, how could screen time be used to improve their life and their experience of family, and, what decisions could be useful to make everyone feel good about screen time?

The Screens Issue, recently published on the Happy Families website is a great read if you’d like to learn more about managing screen time and how to have what can be challenging conversations with your children. Click here to read it online now.