Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

NZ kids spend a third of after-school time on screens, call for urgent online regulations

Isaac Davison
By Isaac Davison
Senior Reporter·NZ Herald·
6 Jul, 2023 12:01 PM6 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Expiring rapid antigen tests still to be used, research into kids' screen-time and gender-neutral toilets on the way at Auckland Airport in the latest headlines. Video / NZ Herald

Alarmed experts have sounded warning for the mental and physical wellbeing of Kiwi children after new research revealed our kids are spending about a third of after-school time on screens.

The high rate of screen time is exposing youngsters to cyberbullying, harmful sexualised content and inappropriate advertising for sectors such as alcohol and gambling.

YouTube and Netflix are the most popular websites, with one in three children under 14 using social media, most commonly TikTok, which is rated R13.

Experts say the problem has worsened since the country was plunged into Covid-19 lockdowns as families’ activities and schooling were thrown into disarray.

They say regulations are urgently needed to protect children from harm in the largely unregulated online world.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

An Auckland mother of five says her family try to limit screen time and use of devices during the school week and has banned TikTok in the house due to inappropriate content and swearing.

“When I heard that it was always ‘get off it’. We can’t always control it, but none of them have social media.”

In a University of Otago study, adolescents’ habits were tracked by body cameras between 3.30pm and bedtime, with screen time exceeding the recommended level - less than two hours a day outside school hours.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Kids were found to spend around 10 per cent of their time on two screens. Developing research says multiple screen use could be linked with poorer sleep (compared to single screen use). Photo / University of Otago
Kids were found to spend around 10 per cent of their time on two screens. Developing research says multiple screen use could be linked with poorer sleep (compared to single screen use). Photo / University of Otago

The significant amount of time spent in front of screens raised health and wellbeing concerns, said senior researcher Dr Moira Smith, from the University of Otago’s Department of Public Health in Wellington.

“It is associated with obesity, poor mental wellbeing, poor sleep and mental functioning and lack of physical activity,” she said. “It also affects children’s ability to concentrate and regulate their behaviour and emotions.”

The findings, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal today, were likely to be an underestimate.

The initial data collection was in 2014/15, and use of smartphones and online activity is believed to have increased since then - especially during the pandemic.

It is not yet known whether habits formed during the Covid period have persisted, and this is the subject of further research.

The Auckland mother said she and her husband were “pretty strict” about how much time the kids spent on electronic devices during the school week.

“If they’ve got homework, or maybe a movie, then we’ll let them on. Otherwise, they’re pretty busy from Monday to Friday with school sport training.

“In the weekend we’re a bit more lenient, but they have to do their chores first and maybe do a bit of reading and then they can spend a bit of time on their devices.”

A lot of her friends had kids who were already on social media.

“It’s scary, in case they’re watching something inappropriate and rude that we don’t know.”

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

While screen time was reasonably easy to navigate at home as both parents were on the same page, she said it would be harder in a single-parent home where kids might get left on devices more often “so they can do housework or whatever”.

The paper’s authors said the amount of time young people spent online also raised concerns around cyberbullying, exposure to sexism and racism, and exposure to advertising for vapes, alcohol, gambling and junk food.

New Zealand legislation was outdated and failed to adequately deal with the online world children were being exposed to, Smith said.

“While screen use has many benefits, children need to be protected from harm in this largely unregulated space,” she said.

Last month, the Government began consulting on changes to how online content is regulated in New Zealand.

That could eventually mean social media companies with a presence in New Zealand have to sign codes of practice requiring them to proactively manage harmful content.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The researchers applauded this work, which is being led by the Department of Internal Affairs.

The Otago study involved placing body cameras on 108 children and analysing images, which were taken every seven seconds.

A young person from the study wearing a body cam to track their screen time. Photo / University of Otago
A young person from the study wearing a body cam to track their screen time. Photo / University of Otago

On average, children were in front of screens for 23 minutes of every hour outside school time. Boys were more likely to spend more time in front of screens, and Māori and Pacific adolescents had more screen time than young people of European descent.

Around 10 minutes per hour were spent in front of more than one screen. Researchers said this could carry additional health risks to single-screen use, with preliminary studies indicating an association with poorer sleep.

High rates of screen time raised health concerns because they displaced activities like active play and sleep. It also negatively affects a child’s ability to focus their attention and regulate their behaviour and emotions.

It was also problematic because of exposure to cyberbullying. New Zealand has high rates of cyberbullying, with around one in four parents reporting their children had been bullied online.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Research by the University of Auckland concluded that blanket screen limits - such as the two-hour recommendation - did not reflect contemporary family life.

Instead, the researchers called for a fresh approach, where parents and caregivers aimed to be more involved in their children’s screen time by monitoring content, choosing interactive screen activities rather than passive watching, and balancing screen use with family time.

The World Health Organization recommends school-aged children, up to 17, limit their recreational screen time.

Children aged 2 to 4 should not have more than one hour of screen time per day and even less is better, the WHO advises.

It also suggested kids younger than 2 should have zero screen time.

In March, Health insurer nib New Zealand released findings from its annual State of the Nation Parenting Survey that showed technology use and the impact of screen time was the number one concern for 70 per cent of parents.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Half of those parents surveyed said children spent too much time on devices, and 66 per cent admitted relying on screens as a bargaining chip and distraction tool for children.

Seventy per cent of parents had taken action: limiting kids’ screen time (52 per cent) and taking away devices as punishment (57 per cent).

How much time should kids spend in front of screens?

0-2 years: Zero use

2-5 years: less than 1 hour a day

5-17 years: less than 2 hours

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

(Ministry of Health statistics)

Isaac Davison is an Auckland-based reporter who covers health issues. He joined the Herald in 2008 and has previously covered the environment, politics, and social issues.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

'Be like John': Businessman's five years with a brain tumour and what it's taught him

11 Jun 06:07 PM
Hawkes Bay Today

CHB music legend dies - reunion gig will go ahead

11 Jun 06:00 PM
Hawkes Bay Today

On The Up: Father-son Chatham Cup magic remembered as crunch knockout match looms

11 Jun 05:00 PM

Clean water fuelling Pacific futures

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

'Be like John': Businessman's five years with a brain tumour and what it's taught him

'Be like John': Businessman's five years with a brain tumour and what it's taught him

11 Jun 06:07 PM

O'Sullivan was told only 10% of people with his brain tumour live longer than nine months.

CHB music legend dies - reunion gig will go ahead

CHB music legend dies - reunion gig will go ahead

11 Jun 06:00 PM
On The Up: Father-son Chatham Cup magic remembered as crunch knockout match looms

On The Up: Father-son Chatham Cup magic remembered as crunch knockout match looms

11 Jun 05:00 PM
Local football returns to McLean Park after 30 year absence

Local football returns to McLean Park after 30 year absence

11 Jun 05:05 AM
It was just a stopover – 18 months later, they call it home
sponsored

It was just a stopover – 18 months later, they call it home

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP