Childs play should be outside, not on screens

Expert's plea to ban kids from devices..

- BY NEIL SHAW

AN Irish psychologist who refuses to let her own kids have electronic devices said children should spend more time outdoors than they do on screens. 

Mum-of-five Catherine Hallissey, 44, won’t let her brood have their own iPads, phones or laptops and says children should have “green time, not screen time”.

Catherine said childhood should be “protected for as long as possible” and suggests not introducing them to social media until they are 13.

She agrees with the UK’s Head of Ofsted Amanda Spielman’s comments around screen time after she was reported to have said she wasn’t comfortable with younger kids having unlimited internet access or smartphones.

Catherine said children under two shouldn’t have any screen time other than video calls with loved ones.

She said those under five should only have one hour of high-quality educational TV, with kids over the age of five “ideally no more than two hours a day”.

Catherine, a chartered psychologist from Cork, said: “I 100% agree with Amanda Spielman.

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