July 7, 2025, 1:26 am | Read time: 7 minutes

Children today are practically growing up with screens. According to the miniKIM study from 2023, two- to three-year-olds already spend about an hour a day watching videos, series, playing digitally, or browsing YouTube and similar platforms.¹ For four- to five-year-olds, it’s about 70 minutes daily. Among 12- to 19-year-olds, internet usage time rises to 201 minutes per day according to the JIM study 2024.² Is that too much?

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How much media time is okay?

Of course, not all screen time is the same: Today, many children do homework on tablets or use learning apps. The main concern is media use during leisure time. Dr. Janna-Lina Kerth from the German Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine (DGKJ) is worried: “When you walk through the city, you often see children still in strollers already holding a phone.” The DGKJ, along with other medical societies, has developed guidelines with recommendations for leisure screen time for children and adolescents³:

• 0-3 years: Screen-free!
• 3–6 years: No more than 30 minutes on individual days and with an adult!
• 6–9 years: No more than 30 to 45 minutes on individual days and with an adult!
• 9–12 years: No more than two hours of leisure screen use!
• 16–18 years: Guideline value–still no more than 2 hours of leisure use!

In this regard, the DGKJ is even stricter than the World Health Organization (WHO), which recommends absolute screen freedom only up to the age of two.⁴ However, in Germany, children and adolescents spend particularly much leisure time with digital media compared to international standards. According to a recent OECD analysis, nearly three-quarters of 15-year-olds spend more than two hours on TikTok, gaming, or other digital offerings on a typical school day.⁵

Behavior indicating addiction

However, there are also signs of problematic behavior that are not directly related to screen time but rather to behavior indicating addiction. Pediatrician Dr. Janna-Lina Kerth points out: “It’s problematic, for example, when children or adolescents can’t stop at all: They secretly get up at night to retrieve the phone from the living room or sit in front of the computer. Or when relationships start to suffer: There’s less contact with friends or family. Or when everything else becomes unimportant: Hobbies are neglected or school performance declines. These are signs of a loss of control.”

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What happens with too much screen time?

Dr. Janna-Lina Kerth, a pediatrician at the University Hospital Düsseldorf, sometimes understands parents who occasionally put their children in front of screens. Because–as many parents know from experience–the child is almost immediately occupied or distracted. “But often you buy yourself time in the short term, for which you pay later,” she explains: Studies show, for example, that a lot of screen time shortens children’s sleep.⁶

Additionally, for development, it’s very important that children perceive, learn about, and understand their environment, she explains: “Time spent in front of the screen is not spent elsewhere, such as outside with siblings, where children can play actively. This can lead to delayed motor development and higher body weight.”⁷ Nearsightedness is also closely linked to excessive screen time, “especially in early childhood when the eyeballs are still developing,” explains Dr. Janna-Lina Kerth. “This also applies to books–but it’s unlikely that a very young child would have a book right in front of their nose for several hours every day. With a phone, that can certainly become everyday.”

Too much screen time also has alarming effects on the brain

The extensive ABCD study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that children who spent more than two hours a day on screen activities performed worse on language and thinking tests. In some children with more than seven hours of screen time per day, the cortex was thinned, the area of the brain responsible for critical thinking and reasoning.⁸ Other studies have shown that excessive screen time leads to poorer academic performance and more behavioral issues in children.⁹

Phones also cause problems in social life

The more screen time, the fewer friends, according to the ABCD study. And according to the “DAK Addiction Study,” more than a third of all children and adolescents feel ignored because their counterparts prefer to engage with their phones.¹⁰ Studies also show a link between more screen time and poorer mental well-being.¹¹

However, there were also a few (rare) surprises in the research: The ABCD study found that video gaming improves problem-solving, flexible thinking, and memory.

What can parents do?

By the time children reach their teenage years, almost every family faces phone-related issues: tablet locks, phone bans, confiscated computers. However, researchers agree that digital media are now an integral part of children’s and adolescents’ daily lives. The genie is out of the bottle, and no one can put it back: Kids and teens want to communicate, learn new things, and satisfy their sense of adventure–all of which phones and other devices offer.¹²–whether parents like it or not. Therefore, scientists recommend that parents avoid falling into the phone trap unprepared and engaging in a power struggle with their children. They advise: Make clear agreements that are binding for everyone. While this may sound like good general advice, it’s not very widespread: The DAK Addiction Study laments that about 40 percent of parents do not adequately define the extent of media usage.

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Assessment by a Pediatrician

Pediatrician Dr. Janna-Lina Kerth also advises: Definitely establish rules for screen time together. “Discuss with your child: ‘What could be an agreement we can both agree on?’ This agreement is then consistently enforced–even if it’s difficult and sometimes leads to conflict.” It’s also important to genuinely engage with what the child is doing online. However, not as a “detective meticulously tracking possible addictive behavior: Children notice this quickly and feel monitored–it’s important to build trust. Better to ask: ‘Can you tell me about the computer game you’re playing?’ or have them show what they’re interested in.”, explains Dr. Janna-Lina Kerth. It’s crucial to keep the conversation going about what’s so fascinating on the screen. “And continue this later–not just while the children are young, but always stay engaged.”

And one aspect should be particularly kept in mind, emphasizes Dr. Janna-Lina Kerth: the role model function of parents. Studies have shown that children notice very early how much time parents spend on their phones and what they do there, and that the interruptions and associated mental and emotional absence make them sad. They feel when they lose out to the screen.¹³ These parental screen habits do not go unnoticed by the children: On one hand, they then spend more time on their phones or computers themselves, and on the other hand, there are also bonding issues between parents and children, increased anxiety, more withdrawal, and poorer problem-solving skills.¹⁴

Where to Find Help for Screen Problems?

Many teenagers even have a fairly strong sense that phones and other devices can be problematic, says Dr. Janna-Lina Kerth: If there is a stable, trusting relationship between parents and children, it is easier for them to talk to their parents when they feel something might be wrong. “In my experience, most children are open to such conversations,” she encourages. She also points to self-tests on media consumption available online, such as from the Federal Institute for Public Health or the University of Heidelberg. There is also straightforward email counseling available from the Federal Institute for Public Health. Help is also offered by parenting counseling centers, pediatricians, and specialists in child and adolescent psychotherapy.