Screen time for kids: What SA parents should be asking – and why hours aren’t the whole picture
· Citizen
South African parents navigating their children’s relationship with screens may soon have national guidance to help them, but one expert says that even well-intentioned guidelines risk missing the point if they focus too narrowly on time limits.
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In May, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) told parliament it is developing national guidelines on screen time for children aged two to six, marking the country’s first targeted intervention on children’s digital exposure.
The department cited international research linking prolonged, non-educational screen use to delays in language development, reading cognition, and fine motor control, risks that the guidelines aim to address by protecting children’s development of language, attention, memory, and social skills.
But Dr Onyinye Nwaneri, managing director of Sesame Workshop International South Africa, argues that framing screen time as a quantity problem obscures a more important conversation.
“An hour spent alone, passively watching mindless videos is one thing; but an hour spent video-calling a parent who is away for work is something else entirely. These are very different screen time experiences, even though the stopwatch says the same thing in all three cases,” Nwaneri opined in a thought leadership piece.
Why context matters more than the clock
For Nwaneri, the more useful question for parents and caregivers is not how much screen time a child is getting, but whether that screen use is helping or hurting the overall balance of their day.
This distinction is particularly important in South Africa, where families are navigating circumstances that differ sharply from those in many developed countries. In some homes, a shared mobile phone may be the only device available, with every minute of use shaped by data costs. In other cases, children may spend more time on screens because caregivers are managing work and household demands simultaneously, or because there are limited safe outdoor spaces for play.
“In these instances, more screen time doesn’t make the parents careless; it just makes careful assessment more important. When guidance focuses only on hours, it misses the bigger picture of digital wellbeing,” said Nwaneri.
The questions parents should be asking
Rather than tracking minutes, Nwaneri recommends that parents and caregivers ask a different set of questions:
- What is the child doing on the screen?
- Who are they with?
- How do they feel before and after?
- What might screen time be replacing?
- Can they move away from the device without major distress?
- Does the screen use fit with the family’s values and daily realities?
These questions, she argues, shift the focus from “how long?” to “how healthy?” – a crucial reframing for families whose circumstances don’t fit neatly into universal guidelines.
The role of co-engagement
Sesame Workshop’s guidance, which Nwaneri draws on, emphasises co-engagement; the idea that when adults are present during screen time, even occasionally, screens can become tools for connection and learning rather than simply a way to keep children occupied.
“A song can turn into a game, a story can open up a conversation about feelings, and a counting activity can continue later with cups, pegs or fruit in the kitchen,” she explains.
The signs of healthy screen use, she adds, are visible in the rest of a child’s day: if screen time is not disrupting sleep, meals, physical movement, relationships, play or early learning routines, those outcomes are a better measure of its value than any fixed daily total.
When to be concerned – and how to respond
The concern, Nwaneri says, begins when screen use starts crowding out the experiences most essential to child development. Young children still need movement, rest, conversation, hands-on exploration and human interaction, all of which are central to developing language, emotional regulation and a sense of connection.
Crucially, however, she cautions against over-correction.
“Even if an honest assessment of a child’s screen time reveals that they are missing out on other essential development aspects, the answer is not blame. Nor is it a knee-jerk reaction involving removing screens altogether or imposing rigid time limits.”
Instead, Nwaneri advocates for healthy transitions away from screens – through songs, stories, movement games, simple household tasks or outdoor play where possible – rather than abrupt removal.
The bottom line for SA families
As the DBE works to finalise its guidelines, Nwaneri’s message to parents is: a healthier digital life for South Africa’s children cannot be reduced to a universal number.
“It requires better questions, closer attention to what a healthy balance involves and more realistic support for families raising children under very different, and often difficult, conditions.
“Screens are part of childhood now – so our job is not to fight them, but to make sure they do not crowd out the other parts of a healthy childhood.”
Dr Onyinye Nwaneri, managing director of Sesame Workshop International South Africa, shares her thoughts on screen time for kids in the South African context. Picture: Supplied