Screen time for kids: sensible guidelines by age

Why doesn't „one number for everyone“ work?

Because minutes aren't what decides — context is: what is used, when, with whom and instead of what? An hour of creative making or a video call with grandparents is something entirely different from an hour of endless scrolling right before bed. Every child is different, so a single number can never fit everyone the same way.

Which guidelines apply at each age?

As a rough orientation: the younger the child, the less time and the more guided it should be. From „as little as possible“ for the youngest, time rises to around an hour at primary-school age; from puberty on, the minute count matters less than the shared agreement. The following figures are reference points, not laws:

• 0–3 years: as little as possible, ideally together and guided.
• 3–6 years: up to about 30 minutes a day, with carefully chosen content.
• 6–9 years: about 30–45 minutes, with steady rituals for structure.
• 9–12 years: about 45–60 minutes, increasingly with the child's input.
• 13+ years: fixed minutes matter less — now it's about negotiating rules together.

More important than sticking to the minute is staying in conversation. As teenagers grow older these figures shift anyway: according to the JIM-Studie 2025, the smartphone is part of everyday life for almost all teenagers — all the more reason to talk about quality early on, not just duration.

Why does quality beat quantity?

Because two equally long screen sessions can work in completely different ways. Ask less „how long?“ and more „what and how?“. What matters is the content, the time of day (think sleep) and whether media crowds out other important things like exercise, friends or homework.

How does a limit turn into a conversation?

By letting children understand why a limit exists — then they're more likely to carry it rather than bypass it. Bans alone tend to get sidestepped instead of grasped. That's exactly where Digital Mastery comes in: it reveals how you both experience media use — a fair basis for a conversation as equals.