Screen time for children is a hotly debated topic. Some parents sit staunchly in the no-screen camp, while others raise so-called iPad kids.
One family on Reddit is extremely disciplined when it comes to their toddler’s screen time, allowing none at all. However, when they found their dream daycare — and learned that they allowed a bit of TV time each day — the parents questioned if they should compromise on their strongly held screen time standards.
The no-screens family wondered if it was a ‘dealbreaker’ that their toddler’s daycare allows 30 minutes of TV daily.
In their Reddit post, the parents explained that they have a 2-and-a-half-year-old toddler who they are looking to put into daycare. They found a place that checked a lot of their boxes — had good reviews, a low student-to-teacher ratio, and good food for their toddler.
“The only catch is they show kids TV from 2:30 to 3,” they wrote. “They said it’s so that kids who wake up early don’t wake the others, and they go to another room to watch TV.”
“We’re a very strict no-screens family,” the parents added. “We haven’t turned on the TV for her even once since she was born.”
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For children, especially young ones, too much screen time can cause an array of developmental and social issues.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics found that screen time may be associated with delayed development in young children. The findings were based on parent reports of screen time use at 1 year and developmental skills at ages 2 and 4 years from a group of nearly 8,000 young children.
According to the data, 1-year-olds who were exposed to more than four hours of screen time per day showed delays in communication and problem-solving at ages 2 and 4.
More screen time for 1-year-olds was also associated with developmental delays in fine motor, personal, and social skills at age 2.
Dr. Pedi Mirdamadi, a licensed naturopathic doctor on TikTok, discussed more harmful effects that screen time has on children, including a shortened attention span, a failure to recognize empathy and facial expressions, and poor impulse control.
He further noted that, ideally, children under 2 should have no screen time at all, and those between 2 and 4 should have a maximum of 30 minutes.
So, it seems this family is right on track, and the daycare’s TV time shouldn’t be an issue for their 2-and-a-half-year-old.
The parents haven’t seen any behavioral problems in their toddler since attending daycare.
“We don’t see any behavior issues, no tantrums,” they wrote. “So far she seems happy when returning from the daycare.”
“For other families like us, would this be a dealbreaker to you?” they asked fellow parents on Reddit.
In the comments section, other parents offered their opinions, with one Reddit user writing, “Parenting is a series of compromises: between your expectations for your child and the person they ultimately end up being, between the needs of one child and your others, between the good of the group and the good of the one, and between your own standards and what is feasibly done in the real world.”
“What I can tell you is, there’s no way to implement ‘perfect parenting’ for an entire childhood,” they continued. “If 30 minutes of TV is one of the things you have to bend on, it’s going to be fine.”
As Dr. Mirdamadi noted — and the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics support — children under 2 should have no screen time at all. Older children’s media use should be limited to no more than an hour per day.
So, the daycare’s 30 minutes of TV time shouldn’t be a cause of concern, especially since the family doesn’t allow screen time at home.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.
