I lied about my kids’ screen time. But I don’t feel guilty about it

July 27, 2026 — 7:00pm

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Screens are the devil, or so says a teacher I know who attributes rising behavioural problems in her classroom to the increased time kids are spending on screens at home.

The issue, she hypothesises, is that they are being babysat – from the time they are babies – by screens. It means they never learn to regulate their own emotions because any time they are bored, frustrated or distressed the parent distracts them with a device.

By the time they arrive in kindergarten, they have no self-regulation skills to cope IRL.

The more children are on devices, the more likely they are to develop socioemotional problems, such as anxiety and depression, as well as aggression and hyperactivity. And the more they experience socioemotional problems, the more likely they are to use screens to self-soothe. It’s a nasty cycle.

These were the findings of a 2025 meta-analysis of data from more than 292,000 children worldwide.

It was my most shameful moment as a parent. Now I’m seeing it play out all around me

Sarah BerryLifestyle Health Editor

Lifestyle Health Editor

Yet, new  Bureau of Statistics data shows only one in four Australian children aged between five and 17 meet screen-time guidelines of less than two hours of sedentary recreational screen time a day (for kids aged between two and five, it should be........

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