Even before the pandemic, we all knew screen time was detrimental to children’s development. Most children have had way more screen time than parents used to be okay with due to lockdowns. Schools and private extracurricular institutions think it is okay to use screen time during classes or camp without informing the parents. Whether it is during snack or meal breaks, or as a tie in to a theme, or just as a busy activity while organizers clean up, the amount of time our young kids are getting screen time far exceeds the one hour of “educational and interactive” screen time that is the maximum the American and Canadian Paediatricians associations recommend for children under 5. The following should be implemented to ensure Ontario youth have a high chance of success:

1. Ban any screen time during snack or meal times for any children in a supervised setting. This creates bad eating habits and is not useful for anything. 
2. Ban screen time in daycares, and limit screen time in schools to 2.5 hours per week across all subjects for students in grades JK to 4. Limit to 5 hours per week for students for students in grades 5-8 during instructional time. Tie screen time in grades 9-12 to physical activity time. 
3. Mandatory disclosure to parents about what will be shown to children at least one week prior. It is proven that children learn better from videos if a parent or caregiver can co-view and/or discuss the content with the child, so give parents an opportunity to do so (or explain what the teacher will be doing).
4. Mandatory disclosure before registration in extracurricular activities if screen time will be used as to type and amount. 
5. Financial penalties paid to parents for failure to comply. $2 per minute exceeding allowable amounts. 

View more at:

https://cps.ca/en/documents/position/screen-time-and-young-children
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2020/04/cover-kids-screens