How much screen time should a school-age child have?
There is no single number. The American Academy of Pediatrics asks families of children 6 and older to set consistent limits that leave room for sleep, physical activity, school, family meals and friends — and to switch screens off at least an hour before bed.
What do pediatricians recommend by age?
- Under 1: no screen time, says the World Health Organization.
- Age 1: sedentary screen time is not recommended (WHO).
- Ages 2–4: no more than one hour a day (WHO).
- Ages 2–5: about an hour a day of high-quality programmes, watched together, in the AAP's guidance for young children.
- Ages 6 and up: consistent limits set by the family, built around sleep, activity, school, meals and friends (AAP). The AAP gives no fixed number of hours for this age; the point is that screens shouldn't push out the things children need.
Which rules matter most?
- Sleep first. Screens off at least an hour before bed, and no phones in the bedroom overnight.
- Screen-free times. Meals, homework (unless the device is needed for it) and lessons.
- A daily budget for games, social networks and short videos — the apps that pull hardest.
- The same rules every day, written down together. The AAP's Family Media Plan is a free tool for this.
How do you turn that into rules on a phone?
Rules written on paper are hard to keep at 11 p.m. Hoglt switches them on by themselves:
- Bedtime — 22:00–07:00 by default; move the start to an hour before your child falls asleep. You choose the apps that stay open.
- School time — weekdays 08:00–14:00, calls always work.
- Daily limits — when an app's time is used up, it stays closed until tomorrow.
See screen time limits for the details.
What about short videos?
Feeds of short videos are designed to keep going. On iPhone, Hoglt can keep Instagram messages and YouTube long videos while taking away Reels and Shorts, each with its own short daily time — see Reels, Shorts and Telegram.
Should children know the rules?
Yes. Rules a child helped make are easier to keep. In Hoglt, a closed app says why, and the child can ask a parent for more time instead of arguing; the parent's PIN opens it for 15–60 minutes.