Worried about screen time? How long kids are spending on tech – and what they're doing

A family sits in a crowded restaurant, and one of the parents hands their toddler a phone to play a game as the little one settles into a high chair.

Mornings are a blur, so while mom takes a shower and dad makes a quick breakfast, their first grader plops on the couch and watches YouTube videos on his tablet.

These scenarios are familiar to most modern families: Many young kids are using technology more than ever for a variety of reasons and in a variety of ways.

But a new study from Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that tracks media and technology and how it impacts children, suggests kids ages 8 and younger may be spending more time online than many of us realize.

Common Sense completed similar studies in 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2020. The latest study, released Wednesday surveyed 1,578 parents of children age 8 or younger in August 2024.

The report looked not only at how much time younger children are spending on smartphones, tablets and other devices but also how they are spending that time. Here's what you need to know.

How much time are younger kids spending on screens?

Screen time has remained steady since 2020, according to the latest report, when the pandemic meant children and people of all ages were online for longer periods of time as some schools and workplaces closed for extended periods.

By age 2, most kids are spending about 2.5 hours a day using technology. Five- to 8-year-old children spend an average of about 3.5 hours a day looking at screens.

What are young children doing while they're online?

As traditional TV viewing continues to decline, especially among younger people, children are watching more short videos online using platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts. That's increased from an average of 1 minute of daily viewing in 2020 to 14 minutes on average by 2024.

In addition, Common Sense found that children are playing games online far more than they had in the past: Gaming times have increased significantly — by 65% since 2020.

And kids aren't just powering on these devices once they've finished their homework or an afterschool sport: One in five children ages 8 and younger use a mobile device for emotional regulation, at mealtime, or to fall asleep, according to their parents.

Some parents (17%) said their child uses a mobile device to calm themselves when they feel angry, sad or upset. And about the same percentage of children (23% and 22%, respectively) use a digital device when eating at home or at a restaurant. Twenty percent of kids use a digital device to fall asleep every night or most nights, the study found.

Left to their own devices

Children are getting their own tablets and phones − and using them. Common Sense found that by age 2, 40% of children had their own tablet, and 58% had their own tablet by age 4 (about the same as in 2020).

The number of children with their own cell phone by age 8 — 1 in 4 − has remained about the same as well. More than half of children under age 8 have their own phone or tablet (51%), which has also held steady since 2020.

Parental supervision varies widely, Common Sense found: 62% of parents watch YouTube occasionally with their kids, but 17% say they watch TikTok with children. Artificial intelligence, too, is making inroads with younger children, with about a third of parents saying their child has used AI for school-related learning.

And children from lower-income households (those earning less than $50,000 a year) spend nearly twice as much time looking at screens than their higher-income counterparts at nearly four hours a day (3 hours, 48 minutes) and nearly two hours (1 hour, 52 minutes), respectively.

What can parents do about young kids' screen habits?

James Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, said in a release accompanying the report that young children "are on the front lines of an unprecedented digital transformation."

"From AI to immersive gaming, they're experiencing technologies that didn't exist even a few years ago," Steyer added. "It's a lot to manage as a new parent."

That concern showed up among parents surveyed, too. Short-form video platforms' "rapid-fire and algorithm-driven nature" are concerning to parents who expressed worries in the study about how excessive screen time might affect their kids' mental health.

Still, 75% of parents say they're excited to see kids learning new things through digital media.

Jill Murphy, Common Sense's chief content officer, said that "while technology keeps evolving, what children need hasn't changed."

She suggested parents be actively involved in their kids' online consumption, choosing content they can enjoy together or connecting online content to real-life experiences.

Parents can also set clear boundaries and time limits, and establish screen-free time at meals and around bedtime.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Worried about kids' screen time? How long they're spending on tech