More than 90 percent of Taiwanese aged three to five use personal electronic devices at home, with three-year-olds averaging a screen time of two hours and 17 minutes per day, a survey released yesterday said.
The survey of 1,732 parents, which counted the use of computers, communication devices and consumer electronics, was released at a news conference by National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) and Parenting magazine.
It found that more than 90 percent of children of that age group used screen-based devices at home, with the youngest children surveyed having the longest average screen time.
Photo: Ho Tsung-han, Taipei Times
Three-year-olds averaged two hours and 17 minutes of screen time per day, while four-year-olds averaged one hour and 59 minutes and five-year-olds averaged one hour and 36 minutes, the survey showed.
Three-year-old children of lower-middle-class-background had the highest daily screen time, at three hours and two minutes on average, the survey showed.
“The more children are using these devices, the less they are interacting with their parents,” said Chang Chien-ju (張鑑如), a professor in NTNU’s Department of Human Development and Family Studies who is one of the survey’s directors.
“This negatively affects their social, emotional and physical development, as well as their cognitive and linguistic abilities,” she said.
Chang recommended that parents limit their children’s daily screen time to less than one hour, and to use the extra time to play, read or talk with their children, or have meals together.
K-12 Education Administration Director-General Peng Fu-yuan (彭富源) said that personal electronics use was highest among three-year-olds who had not yet entered preschool.
The Ministry of Education is considering sending information about how to reduce children’s use of electronic devices with the statements for monthly childcare subsidies that most parents receive, he said.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare recommends that three-year-olds be limited to 30 minutes of screen time per day and that four to six-year-olds be limited to one hour, with a 10-minute break every half an hour to rest their eyes.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
RSS