Guernsey parents urged to reduce screen time for young children

Thursday, 12 March 2026 12:45

The States “Screens Away, Time to Play” campaign explains the negative impact of excessive screen time on under-4s brain development and suggests alternatives.

Posters, leaflets and a webpage have been designed to help local parents understand the impact of excessive screentime on children's brain development.

The “Screens Away, Time to Play” campaign, run by the States’ Early Years, Public Health, and Speech and Language teams, is based on World Health Organisation research.

Official guidance says children under 2 should have no screen time, except video calls, and under-4s should be limited to one hour a day, spread out and supervised.

Zara Betts from the States Early Years Team explains how too much screen time can affect babies’ and toddlers’ development:

"We're seeing more children with short-sightedness and poor posture because of hunching over and looking at a phone or a screen.

"(It can also affect) obesity, sleep, language, mental health, and a big one is being able to regulate your own emotions.

"Children are finding it harder to be able to wait or to concentrate."

The campaign advises keeping screens away during meals, baths, play, and bedtime, and encouraging hands-on activities instead.

Ideas include matching socks, sorting cutlery, building blanket forts, dancing, collecting leaves, or tracing hands.

Public Health's Alex Hawkins-Drew says parents should be aware of their own phone use too.

"This is not about penalising parents, we understand that they've got a really busy life and sometimes they do have to do things and don't always have their eye directly on that child.

"But the more eye contact you can make with the child, the more those connections build and the more that you model behaviours with them, the better the development is for the child."