In this hyper-connected digital age, the fights over screen time and devices between parents and children became a depressing part of family life, and knowing how much is too much became a frequent query.

Whether it’s three-year-olds who have temper tantrums when they get their tablet, seven-year-olds who watch YouTube all night, nine-year-olds who ask for their own phones, eleven-year-olds who complain they want to play games + 18 who play “all their friends”, or 14 years of age who do not leave Instagram; Each stage of childhood and adolescence is now accompanied by its own and new parenting challenges.

Children aged 8 and under spent about 15 minutes a day watching a mobile screen in 2013 and now spend 48 minutes a day, according to the report of Common Sense Media, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping children, parents, and educators to navigate the world of media and technology.

The report also found that 42% of children aged 8 or younger now have their own tablets, a strong increase of 7% four years ago and less than 1% in 2011.

For the report, 1,454 parents of children aged 8 and under were surveyed online in January and February about how their children use the media.

The new survey was constructed from two previous surveys on the use of media by children that were carried out in 2011 and 2013.

The new findings, detailed in the report, showed that children 8 and under spend an average of 2 hours and 19 minutes a day with screen media, roughly the same as in previous years.

While the average time was maintained, it did change how they are using it.

Mobile devices are the most chosen by far, now represent 35% of screen time, compared to 4% in 2011.

The report also found that children 8 years and younger now spend more time on mobile screens (about 48 minutes a day) than what they spend reading or sharing readings with their parents, which averages about 30 minutes per day.

Almost all children 8 years old or younger, 98%, live in a home with some type of mobile device and the same percentage have a television in the home, according to the report. Almost half of the children aged 8 and under, 49%, watch television or play video games one hour before bedtime and 42% of parents say that television is “always” or “most of the time” in the home, according to the report.

According to a study prepared by Family.tv in conjunction with Yeep! Kidïs Media, on the media consumption of children, adolescents and parents in Latin America in 2017, the penetration of the Internet in the region grew by 162% between 2006 and 2015.

Currently, 54% of Latinos have Internet access and it is estimated that on average 22 connected hours are spent.

According to the same study, about 35% of Latin Americans are children (0 and 14 years old) and adolescents (between 15 to 19 years old) 26% and 9% respectively. The main sources of contact with the Internet are at home with 49% and at school with 46%, in addition to the existence of cybercafés in the case of Mexico and Peru with 68%.

After 12 years, 60% of adolescents receive their first mobile phone so they begin to interact with social networks, surf, and chat by this mean.

Setting limits with the parental control app

To help parents manage their kids’ screen time, a fantastic tool has been developed, i.e. parental control app such as FamilyTime parental app that helps parents efficiently.

With this app in hand, parents can allow them a specific hour for device use and can even schedule auto screen-locks. Not only this, with the app in hand, parents can blacklist addictive and over engaging apps for their kids or can allow them limited time for use. There are many more features.