Government Issues Screen Time Guidance for Under-5s

The UK government has published its first official guidance on screen time for young children, advising that under-twos should avoid screens except for during shared activities under supervision, while children between the ages of two and five should be limited to no more than one hour a day.

The guidance, developed by an expert panel led by Children's Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza and paediatrician Professor Russell Viner, recommends keeping mealtimes and the hour before bed screen-free, and that during screen time they should be avoiding fast-paced social media-style videos, and steering clear of AI toys and tools for young children. Screens should be off during mealtimes and bedtime, with suggested alternatives including background music, table games, bedtime stories and colouring.

The guidance stresses that not all screen time is equal. Watching content together with an engaged adult while talking, asking questions and interacting is linked to better cognitive development than leaving children to use screens alone. The guidance also makes it clear that screen time limits should not be applied in the same way to children with special educational needs and disabilities who rely on screen-based assistive technologies.

Viner said the evidence was clear: "Too much solo screen time can crowd out the things that make the biggest difference — sleep, play, physical activity and talking with parents and carers."

The panel found particular concern about fast-paced content. Professor Sam Wass of the University of East London, who has been studying the brain activity of young children while they watch screens, said that when content arrives faster than a child's brain can process, "something called the fight-or-flight stress system kicks in, where your heart starts beating faster and you start to get a lot of energy released to your muscles." He noted there is "good evidence" linking time spent watching fast-paced, unpredictable content to emotional dysregulation in young children.

The statistics underline the scale of the challenge. Around 98% of two-year-olds are already watching screens daily, and a quarter of parents of children between 3 and 5 say they struggle to control their child's screen time. A report by early years charity Kindred Squared found 28% of children starting reception cannot use a physical book properly, with some attempting to swipe pages like a tablet.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: "Parenting in a digital world can feel relentless. Screens are everywhere, and the advice is often conflicting. My government will not leave parents to face this battle alone." He acknowledged opposition to the move but said: "Whether it's navigating technology, tackling the cost of living or balancing the demands of family life, I will always stand on the side of parents doing their best for their children."

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the guidance took a "precautionary approach" given how rapidly the field was developing. "I know there are lots of pressures on families and the intention behind the guidance is not to be judgmental, but to be supportive," she said. But the reality for many families is that following the guidance is easier said than done. 

Online safety campaigner Ian Russell, whose 14-year-old daughter Molly took her own life after consuming harmful content online, welcomed the guidance as a "hopeful sign," saying it was "based on evidence" and that "the earlier you start to do something about this, the better." 

Founder of Parent Zone Vicki Shotbolt said the guidance was broadly sensible but noted the practical limits: "A small child under the age of five who's got an AI smart speaker in the house will be interacting with it. So the idea that we can completely keep them away from it is probably flawed."

The guidance is available for free on the government's Best Start in Life website and will also be distributed through hundreds of new Best Start Family Hubs opening across the country. Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott welcomed it but said that the government "must go further," including legally banning smartphones in schools and restricting social media access for under-16s.

The guidance forms part of a broader government push on children and screens that includes a live consultation on whether to follow Australia in banning under-16s from social media entirely, and a separate trial involving 300 teenagers testing different levels of social media restriction.