A psychologist has revealed how much screen time children should have - but refuses to let her own kids have devices and encourages parents to do "green time" instead. Mum-of-five Catherine Hallissey, 44, won't let her brood have their own iPads, phones or laptops and says children should have "green time not screen time" - which involves getting them outside.
Catherine says childhood should be "protected for as long as possible" and suggests not introducing them to social media until they are 13. She agrees with the Head of Ofsted Amanda Spielman's comments around screen time after she was reported to have said she wasn't comfortable with younger kids having unlimited internet access or smartphones.
Catherine says children under two shouldn't have any screen time at all - other than video calls with loved ones. She said those under five, should only have one hour of high-quality educational TV - with kids over the age of five "ideally no more than two hours a day".
Catherine, a chartered psychologist, from Cork, Ireland, said: "I 100 per cent agree with Amanda Spielman - the Head of Ofsted. "I tell parents they should allow children access to the internet at the age they feel happy with them accessing the best and the worst of social media.
"Screen time for children should be limited to two hours at most, with supervision for young children and more freedom to use independently as they get older. I highly recommend no phones in primary school and that everything should be supervised with parental controls.
"If all us parents banded together and supported each other it would be so much easier to protect our children."
Catherine specialises in parenting and family relationships and runs an online service which regularly tackles the subject of tech and wellbeing for youngsters. She shared her family's rules for digital access and healthy tech habits, which include banning phones from bedrooms and no access to social media apps such as TikTok and Snapchat.
"It's not about demonising screen time," she said. "Screens can be amazing and really useful - it's about being really mindful about how we use them.
"I'm in favour of the conscious use of screen time and being mindful about how you as a parent use screen time. For example, putting on a DVD as part of family time is OK.
"What is problematic is the 'endless scroll' of social media - where apps have been specifically developed to increase the amount of time spent online. When we don't have to make a conscious decision to spend time online, we tend to over-consume, like with a multipack of crisps.
"So, my general philosophy is for the conscious, deliberate use of screen time. One way of looking at it is you're saying yes to screen time, you're saying no to something else, like playing outside.
"The online world is hyper-stimulating, and I don't want their Lego, craft projects and playing outside to compete with that. I encourage green time as much as possible. As a psychologist specialising in family relationships, I understand how important childhood is developmentally.
"I want to keep them in the development stage. Their development task is to learn to grow and play at this age, and I want them to develop in person social skills for as long as possible.
"The age for play is so short, but it's crucial for self-development. It teaches problem solving skills, self-expression, creativity, and enjoying your own company.
"For that reason, I'm happy to have their friends over any time, rather than them connecting online.
"It's so important to connect with friends but it's better to do this in person than online."
Catherine suggests screen time allowance should vary depending on the child's age.
She said: "For younger children, it's a good idea to make screentime a family activity where possible.
"This gives you the opportunity to chat to them about what they are watching, answer questions, and make it a family rather than a solitary experience.
"The timing is also important - ideally not before bed as for most children, screentime is so visually stimulating that it can interfere with falling asleep easily."
For children over 13, Catherine says social media usage should be managed "only on a case-by-case basis" depending on the child's personality, temperament and behaviour.
She suggests gradually moving towards greater levels of independence as long as the parent feels it isn't having a negative impact on their behaviour and wellbeing.
Catherine has set some practical guidelines in her household, which she discusses with her children.
"Firstly, the younger the child the less screen time," she said.
"No one has a personal device so my husband and I own all the devices. If our children need to use something, they have to ask for permission to use it.
"As they get older, they get more freedom on parental controls, but in the beginning it's a high level of parental control - meaning I physically sit by them while they use the device.
"We don't allow devices in the bedrooms, so they're just in family spaces, which makes them easier to supervise.
"I have Google family set up, so I get alerts on certain apps, and they have to be sanctioned to me by me to use.
Catherine has also banned the use of social media networks such as Snapchat and TikTok.
"The vast majority of our adults would say we find it difficult to control our own social media use and we have fully developed brains, so I know how much harder it would be for my children.
"I work with so many young people and issues on social media come up for almost everyone.
"There are issues ranging from snide comments and feeling left out, up to much more significant things like bullying and harassment.
"I don't want the children to have exposure to adult content and adult themes before they're ready developmentally to cope with them.
"I don't like how on Snapchat young people's location is always on because it really restricts their freedom.
"We all need to be able to switch off.
"If we're training them to always be contactable, teaching that concept of it being bad when someone doesn't respond to you right away, then we create a very unhealthy 'always on' culture."
Catherine says her children do question the rules and that the process is 'bidirectional'.
"Of course, it's totally normal and natural for anyone to protest against a boundary," she said.
"I think it would be strange if they didn't.
"Of course, they would love free access to snapchat and social media.
"But my job as a parent is for our home to be a safe place, to set a boundary and hold it with compassion.
"It's a bidirectional relationship. See how they feel about it, and maybe roll back control a little bit, or see if they need more support.
"It's about emphasising support rather than punishment.
"Make sure they understand the power of social media.
"Talk about the power of advertising, and that there are many people who develop strategies to keep your attention.
"They should understand that if a social media app is free, it's because the user is the product, and why are they selling you, this is age dependent - prepare them to adulthood with a reasonable control on their screens."
Catherine's eight-year-old daughter recently decided herself to delete games from her camera.
Catherine said: "She got a camera for Christmas with games on and we had a discussion about it.
"She felt she was being nagged about it, so she deleted games from it herself - that just came from that conscious use of screen culture."
However, Catherine does allow the use of screens in particular circumstances.
"If they want to learn something, for example through art or music tutorials on YouTube then I am happy for them to use screens," she said.
"We have an Audible subscription so they can listen to audiobooks and the eldest has a Kindle. They like listening to music on Spotify.
"We will watch a family movie, or they can watch a movie by themselves.
"They might use the computer to look up how to solve a Rubik's cube or football stats, we watch clips of comedians together - anything really.
"It's simply that it's more of a family activity rather than by yourself activity."
As well as watching films together, Catherine's children do a wide range of activities instead of screen time.
"We are really fortunate to have a garden so they can play outside, and they do all the normal activities like soccer, horse riding, homework, read a lot, listen to a lot of music," she said.
"Of course, you can't control what happens outside their house. I just put faith in other families.
"Humans are curious and everything brings risk, so with technology it's just about reducing the likelihood of risk."
Catherine's top tips for reducing children's screen time include -
- Choose single-use devices such as a calculator rather than a phone that does everything
- Reflect on your own use of screens - ask yourself if you would be happy for your children to copy how you use digital devices and social media
- Talk to your children about the forces at play behind the digital world, such as advertising and addictive habits
- Santa should never bring an electronic device because then the child feels it's an object between them and Santa which parents can't intervene in
- Closely supervise young children using devices
- Employ parental controls as much as you can
- Keep family time such as meals free of devices
- Match screen time with green time - if you watch a two-hour film try to spend two hours outside
