Highlights
- 26% of LA parents think it’s ok for kids to own their own device at age before they’re 8 years old; New Yorkers disagree
- 70% of parents say their kids are spending more time on their devices than they did pre-pandemic
- Over 40% of parents in NYC and LA have set limits on how much time their children spend on devices
- Headaches, sleep issues, and irritability – this is how technology affects children in NYC and LA
The past two years have been rough for everyone, and extra rough for our children, parents, teachers, and everyone in the education system. The constant back-and-forth between in-person learning and remote learning has taken a toll on our mental health, and has permanently changed our relationship with devices and technology.
On the one hand, the education system probably wouldn’t have survived without the help of technology. Devices have bridged the gap between students and tutors, and made it a lot easier for children to continue learning, even as schools closed down their doors. On the other hand, we’d been spending countless hours on our devices even before the pandemic hit. Now, technology has become more than a way to pass the time; it’s become part of our daily lives, and a real necessity.
Children and technology – before and after the pandemic
Given this context and the accelerated adoption of tech tools, apps, and devices across the education sector, we wanted to see how children interact with technology nowadays. Are they spending more time on devices? Is this impacting their overall wellbeing, and how? What are the dangers of using devices for hours on end, and how are parents dealing with this issue?
We ran a comprehensive survey on hundreds of parents based in New York City and Los Angeles, to highlight potential differences in the approach towards technology from coast to coast. We asked parents about how their children interact with and use devices on a day-to-day basis, and the impact of this behavior on their physical and mental health. While results were relatively similar, we were able to spot some interesting differences between the West Coast and East Coast. Read on for some highlights, and download the full data set at the end of this article.
26% of LA parents think it’s ok for kids to own their own device at age before they’re 8 years old; New Yorkers disagree
Our survey also asked parents in NYC and L.A. what they consider an appropriate age for children to own their first smartphone device. Surprisingly, parents based in Los Angeles think it’s ok for kids to own their own smartphone as soon as possible: 26% of parents say they believe children should own a smartphone before they turn 8 years old. 48% of parents think children should get a device when they’re 9 to 14 years old, while 26% think kids should own a smartphone only after they turn 15.
New York parents are a bit more reserved when it comes to when their children should have their very own smartphone. Over 70% of parents think 9 to 14 years old is the right time for a child to get their own smartphone, and 23% believe they should only get such a device after they turn 15. Just 6% of parents think it’s OK for a child to have their own smartphone before they turn 9 years old.
70% of parents say their kids are spending more time on their devices than they did pre-pandemic
We asked parents in Los Angeles and New York City about the time their children spend on their devices now, compared to pre-pandemic. Given that many children, especially those on the West Coast, are still learning remotely or participating in a hybrid system, it’s only natural that the time they spend in front of screens has increased. More than 70% of parents, both in NYC and in L.A., feel that their children are spending more time on their devices nowadays. However, 16% of L.A. parents said that their children were actually spending less time on devices in 2022, compared to pre-pandemic. By comparison, only 6% of NYC parents responded that way to the survey question.
Roughly 14-15% of parents said they didn’t notice any significant chance in how much time their kids spend on devices. However, researchers found that screen time nearly doubled for children during the pandemic, to 7.7 hours per day – and this does not include school-related work spent on devices. Might this mean that parents need to pay more attention to how much time children are spending in front of screens?
Over 40% of parents in NYC and LA have set limits on how much time their children spend on devices on a daily basis
We’ve asked parents in New York City and Los Angeles if they’ve set any kind of boundaries or limits to how much screen time their children are allowed on a daily basis. 43% of parents in LA and 44% of those in NYC said they’ve had to impose a daily limit to prevent their children from spending too much time in front of blue screens. Some parents have also set parental controls on devices, restricted access to certain apps, and set up a daily ‘log off’ schedule.
However, some parents don’t feel the need to restrict access to devices in their household. In NYC, 24% of parents said they allow their children to use devices as much as they like, without setting any restrictions or limits. By comparison, only 15% of parents in L.A. allow their children to use devices freely.
The good news is that not all screen time is bad, if children can limit exposure to devices to 5 hours per day, according to research from the University of Colorado Boulder. However, that same research found that the more time children spend on devices, the more likely they are to experience attention problems, sleep issues, academic performance issues, and increased aggression or misbehavior.
Headaches, sleep issues, and irritability – this is how technology affects children in NYC and LA
While new research shows that a few hours per day spent on devices is not harmful to our children, parents who responded to our survey did notice some changes triggered by the use of technology. We asked parents to tell us how screen time has been affecting their children since the start of the pandemic. 33% of LA parents said that their children have been having trouble falling or staying asleep due to too much time spent on their devices, while in NYC, the biggest issue children are facing is related to headaches (30%). Other issues signaled by parents include moodiness and irritability, inability to focus, eye pain and dryness, and fatigue.
