6 Minute English / Limiting screen time for children

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.

And I'm Becca. Neil, I ve noticed that you re pretty good at not checking your phone at work. How much time do you spend on your phone outside of work?

Yes, I probably was. You know, Becca, I spend far too much time looking at my phone, and I really don't like it. How about you?

I don't think you're alone. I also spend way too much time looking at my phone.

Well, Becca, we are both adults, but today we're talking about screen time and children screen time. Screen time - that s how much time you spend using devices like smart phones, tablets and laptops.

Yes, and it s a particular worry of many parents that their children spend too much time on these devices. At the end of last year, Australia banned access to social media apps for under 16s, and countries like the UK are considering similar measures.

So, why is this? In this episode, we'll hear from a clinical psychologist and research associate at the University of Cambridge talking about screentime and children. As usual, we'll be learning some useful new words and phrases. And remember, you'll find all this episode's vocabulary, along with a transcript, on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

But first Neil, I have a question for you. According to The UK media regulator, how many children aged three to four have a smartphone? Is it:

a) one in twentyb) one in ten, orc) one in five?