Is screen time a curse or a blessing for families?
Is screen time a curse or a blessing for families?
Many parents report that screen time is quality family time in their home, and more than 90% of parents say they extend screen time for kids.
When I was growing up, “family time” always meant an activity that didn’t include the television. Board games, reading or listening to music, sitting and talking, going outside — all these were on the table, but watching TV was not part of the conversation.
Those feelings have shifted in a major way, according to data from Lingokids and its new “Kids Interactive Entertainment Report.” The data shows that parents are quite willing to let their kids enjoy screen time past pre-set limits, and that screen time can be a quality, family-inclusive experience as well.
If you’re looking for a screen-free way to keep the kids entertained, The Streamable’s Jared DiPane can highly recommend the Toniebox 2 audio player. But as Lingokids has found, most parents are more than happy to turn to screens to keep children happy and entertained.
That isn’t to say that parents are allowing kids to have unlimited screen time; in fact, 93% of parents said they do limit their children’s screen time, either by using built-in features in streaming apps, or just by watching the clock and taking charge of limiting that time themselves.
But the report also found that 95.6% of parents say they have allowed their children to exceed the screen time limits they’ve set. Almost 20% of parents say they go past viewing guardrails almost every day or every day, and only 4.4% report never letting their children use screens more than they intended.
The most frequent reason parents gave for extending screen time limits is so they can finish a task (41%). Another 29% say they override viewing limits because it’s a special occasion, and 22.3% say it’s because the child asks for more time. Additionally, 6.5% of parents say they let kids keep using screens because there’s nothing else to do.
But as the report from Lingokids shows, parents don’t look on screen time as just a way to keep kids busy and out from underfoot. On the contrary, screentime has become a valued family activity that can even produce quality parent-child bonding time.
The data found that 91.5% of responding parents said that screen time brings joy to the household. This isn’t just time spent streaming videos, TV episodes, or movies; it can also include enrichment activities like homework help, but it still adds up to a close family experience for many.
“My daughter and I recently used an app together to explore a fun science activity,” wrote one parent in the survey. “She was fully engaged, asking questions and experimenting along the way, and I was able to guide her while also learning a few things myself. It turned screen time into a meaningful bonding experience, combining fun, learning and quality time together.”
76% of respondents to Lingokids said that screen time can be family time, and 66.5% said that they bond with their kids over screen time. Clearly, parents recognize the value of these devices with screens, even if they also see that children shouldn’t have a screen in front of them 100% of the time.
The data from Lingokids dovetails with data that found nostalgia viewing is growing in popularity on top streaming platforms. Parents are devoting a good chunk of screen time to older, familiar titles, and can use those sessions to introduce kids to age-appropriate content to see if it still resonates.
Parents who are looking for the best streaming services can check out worry-free streamers here, and watch with the confidence of knowing that robust parental controls and big libraries of family-friendly content await. If you’re looking for a new way to bond with the kids during screen time, these streamers can definitely help.
The sheer volume of devices with screens that have proliferated since I was a kid means that screen time has naturally increased as a family activity. But as Lingokids’ data shows, more screen time isn’t necessarily a bad thing; most parents allow kids to surpass screen time limits, and look on shared moments in front of a screen as a way to bond with children as well.
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