The screen time struggle

Recently, the Australian Government has taken strong steps toward restricting social media access for children under 16. Whatever your stance on the policy, it invites us all to pause and reflect on the role screens play in our daily lives, the habits we model for our children, and the long-term impact of growing up in an always-connected world.

In 2025, screens shape how we work, learn, communicate, and manage our daily lives. From checking the weather to banking, booking appointments, and staying in touch with loved ones, digital devices have become essential tools. For parents, this makes limiting screen time is more complex than simply setting boundaries. When time is short, expectations are high, and support is limited, screens often feel like the only thing holding everything together.

In a culture that often values productivity over presence, play is too often viewed as optional when in fact, it’s essential. It can be hard for parents to feel like play (even for themselves) is time well spent when there are emails to answer, dinner to cook, and a hundred other things pulling focus. So, reluctantly and increasingly, they turn to screens.

In the short-term, screen time can offer respite for everyone when children are tired, bored, or need calming. A phone or tablet can buy a moment of peace, a quiet dinner, or a completed errand. These are not failures of parenting. They are reflections of high expectations, too much to do with limited time, and with little support.

To further add to the complexity, not all screen time is created equal. There is a meaningful difference between watching a movie together as a family and handing a phone to a small child to watch and interact with alone. Shared screen time, where conversation, connection and engagement can be a bonding experience. Passive, solo screen use, especially for very young children, provides a very different experience.

While screens may occupy children’s time, they don’t offer what growing minds and bodies truly need: rich, real-world play. Scarier still, when not closely supervised, digital connection can often open children to worlds they are not ready for.

Research highlights how excessive or inappropriate screen exposure in the early years can affect attention span, language development, sleep patterns and social skills. When screens replace face-to-face communication, play and exploration, we risk missing the ‘teachable moments’ and crucial opportunities to support and foster development and relationships.

We know that play that engages the body and mind is essential for children’s development through activities like moving, problem solving, talking, exploring, and questioning. Connection, creativity and hands-on experiences are the foundation for healthy, happy children.

This is where our systems and institutions need to step up. If our early health and education systems rely heavily on connected devices, or if learning is increasingly digital, how can parents be expected to push back against screen use at home? It’s unfair to place the entire burden on families when our institutions and environments are reinforcing the very habits parents are trying to manage.

What is the alternative? We need to reframe how we think about play and it starts with making play easy, visible and valued. It needs to be recognised as a necessary part of childhood; as valuable as ticking off work tasks or household chores. Play needs to be understood as a vital component of learning.

How things work, why things work, rules of games, what can be negotiated and what cannot are all learned through play. It needs to be thought of as a “must have” like swimming lessons or pre-school. Investing in play is investing in a child’s development. It builds confidence, wellbeing, language and social skills and capacity to learn.

Community playgroups can and do make this a reality. They are welcoming spaces where families can connect and build their own play facilitation skills, children can socialise and explore at developmentally appropriate levels, and everyone contributes to an experience that is grounded in the reality of physical presence and social connection.

Parents aren’t failing by relying on devices, they are doing their best within a culture that doesn’t always make alternatives easy or easily accessible. We need to shift that culture and reflect on our systems and how they reinforce the importance of devices in our day to day lives. We must celebrate the power of play, support families to prioritise it, and create more moments of real-world connection beyond the screen.

Author, Patricia O’Donovan, CEO of Playgroup Australia.