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What it covers In development
How much screen time is reasonable?
Set your child’s age to see the suggested recreational ceiling alongside what children that age typically do. The gap between the two is usually the interesting part.
Suggested maximum, school day
2 hrs
an 8-year-old, school day
Day type
Suggested figures follow American Academy of Pediatrics guidance bands. Note that above age 6 there is no official hourly limit: the recommendation is consistent limits protecting sleep, activity, and school. Typical usage figures describe what children actually do, and are not a target.
What this result means
Above age 6 there is no official hourly limit. The figures shown for older children are a practical planning ceiling, not a published standard, and the guidance itself is about protecting sleep, activity, and schoolwork rather than counting hours.
Typical usage runs well above any suggested ceiling at every age. That is context for setting realistic expectations, not a target to aim at.
If you change only one thing, make it where devices spend the night. That single rule does more than any hourly limit.
How it works
- Look up the suggested ceiling for the age band: none under 2, about an hour from 2 to 5, and a practical planning figure above that.
- Adjust for weekend, which allows slightly more.
- Compare against reported typical usage for the same age band.
- Show the gap between the two.
Assumptions and limits
- Figures for ages 6 and up are practical planning numbers. No official hourly limit exists for those ages, and we say so rather than implying otherwise.
- It counts recreational screen time only, not schoolwork.
- It treats all recreational screen use as equivalent, which it is not: a video call with a grandparent and an endless feed are different activities.
- Typical usage figures are population averages and vary considerably by child and household.
Sources
- Media and Young Minds, and the Family Media Plan guidance American Academy of Pediatrics Source of the age bands used in the screen time calculator: avoid screens other than video chat under 18 to 24 months, and about one hour a day of high-quality programming for ages 2 to 5.
- The Common Sense Census: media use by tweens and teens Common Sense Media Source of the "typical usage" figures, which describe what children actually do rather than what is recommended.
Common questions
Is there an official limit for a 10-year-old?
No. Specific hourly recommendations exist only for children under 6. Above that, the guidance is about consistent limits that protect sleep, physical activity, and school, not a number of hours.
Does homework count?
Not here. Counting schoolwork makes any limit meaningless. This covers recreational use only.
What is the single most effective rule?
Devices charge outside bedrooms overnight. It protects sleep and removes the situation that causes most late-night conflict.
The decisions behind this number
A number on its own does not tell you what to do. These walk through the decision.
How much screen time is reasonable?
For under 2, the guidance is to avoid screens other than video chatting with family. For ages 2 to 5, about an hour a day of high-…
When should my child get a phone?
There is no correct age, and no research that identifies one. The useful question is what problem the phone solves. If your child …
Ready to build the whole system?
Knowing the number is the easy part.
The calculator gives you the figure. This is for the part that has to happen every week afterwards.