IGCSE Global Perspectives
Topic: The digital world
Issue: How significant is the use of digital technology?
Screen time: It's impossible to recommend time limits
for kids
6 January 2019
A new report says it cannot confirm that screen time is harmful for children.
The report, written by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, says that
"There is not enough evidence to confirm that screen time is in itself harmful to child
health at any age, making it impossible to recommend age appropriate time limits."
They propose that parents choose limits for their children according to their age and
how screen time affects family life.
The report warns that too much screen time could affect children's fitness, sleep and
mental health, but accepts that using computers, phones and tablets is "part of
children and young people's everyday life. They use it for communication,
entertainment, and increasingly in education."
The report says that not enough research has been done to understand this issue
fully and that it needs "more and better research, particularly on newer uses of digital
media, such as social media."
What do you think? Does lengthy screen time affect you positively, negatively?
Does the effect on our mood and behaviour depend on what you are using the
screen for?
What other factors might contribute to our mood and behaviour when using the
screen for leisure use for long periods of time?
Task A: Try the closed questionnaire provided for you.
In a day when you have used your screen for leisure
purposes (not studying) for between 5 - 8 hours:
1. Do you become increasingly distracted or disorganised?
Often Sometimes Rarely or never
2.Do you become increasingly difficult or lose your patience
over small things?
Often Sometimes Rarely or never
3. Do you find that your range of interests on that day revolve
mainly around use of a screen?
Often Sometimes Rarely or never
4. Do you find that your desire for deeper knowledge or
intellectual curiosity has been reduced?
Often Sometimes 5 Rarely or never
5. Do you feel “wired and tired” - exhausted but cannot sleep at night?
Often Sometimes Rarely or never
6. Do you feel unmotivated to want to do something else more challenging?
Often Sometimes Rarely or never
7. Do you become a “bad loser” or hyper-competitive when
playing video games or sports?
Often Sometimes Rarely or never
8. Do you lie about length of screen use, “cheat” when you
have restricted use, or take a device to bed with you when
not permitted?
Often Sometimes Rarely or never
Task B: Consider the data taken from the research questionnaire taken in class.
Discuss
Which negative behaviours are most affected by lengthy screen time? Give
statistics to support your claim.
Which behaviours change least of all? Give statistics to support your claim.
From your findings, do you conclude that lengthy screen time has a negative
impact on behaviour among students in your class?
A written summary might start with the following introduction
Introduction
Grade 9 students completed a questionnaire survey to find out if lengthy use of
screens for recreational use (5-8 hours in a day) affect behaviours in a negative way.
All students in the class completed the questions anonymously, therefore increasing
the chances that respondents would be honest in their answers. Scores were
converted into percentages so that we could compare the most significant changes in
behaviour.
Summary of Results:
Conclusion:
Extension Task: What are the strengths and weaknesses with this questionnaire
method used? How could you improve it?
