Disconnect to reconnect: Helping kids find balance between screens and real life

In my previous column (Feb. 21), I wrote about the impact of the virtual world and the strain it puts on maintaining human relationships. In this article, I want to focus on younger children and teens’ relation to the cyber world.

How much time do kids spend on their cyber devices? The Joint Research Center of the European Commission (March 18, 2025) reports that since 2010, the average time spent by children between ages nine to 15 on screens and social media has more than doubled, to around three hours per day.

Over 80% of young people in Europe use social media networks daily. Other findings in the United States report an even higher number of hours, ranging from five hours daily in children ages eight to 12, and seven to eight hours daily among teenagers...
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