Screen Time Use and Management among Children: A Study of Teacher’s Knowledge and Awareness in Rivers State, Nigeria
Gabriel-Job Nneka
Department of Paediatrics, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Nigeria.
Wobo Kininyiruchi N *
Department of Paediatrics, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Background: Screen time is the length of time a child spends engaged with electronic or a digital device. Excessive exposure to screens at the critical time of rapid brain development can affect the social, physical, cognitive, speech, and language development of a child. Teachers, as the foremost stakeholders in children's education, are in a position to evaluate these patterns. This study examines children’s screen time use and management from the teachers' perspective.
Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study involving 154 teachers in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. A multistage sampling method was employed to recruit the study participants. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Analysis was done using SPSS version 25.
Results: Their ages ranged from 23yrs -50yrs with a mean of 37.53 8.52 years. Most (77.3%) of the teachers had a bachelor's degree. The most common type of screen device used by students was smartphone (81.2%), and less than 10% of the teachers used screen devices as a teaching tool. More than one-third of the teachers (36.4%) permit their students to willingly use screen devices for non-educational purposes. Most of the participants agreed that limiting the use of screen devices was part of their duty, while only 50% knew that screen time was age-dependent. Over 90% of teachers knew excessive use of screen devices led to addiction, while only 22.7% knew that constant use of screen devices increases the risk of obesity. About 90% of the teachers agreed that constant use of screen devices negatively affects children’s mental health, affects their sleep quality, as well as their attention and concentration, while 45% agreed that it affects children’s speech and language development.
Conclusion: Teachers had a moderate knowledge about the impact of excessive screen time on children; however, their knowledge of regulatory measures was poor. To promote age-appropriate and healthy screen time use among children in school, emphasis needs to be drawn to teachers’ role in regulating screen time and as well as creating awareness on the dangers of excessive screen time.
Keywords: Screen time management, children, school, teachers, Rivers State