The guidance says time limits shouldn’t apply in the same way for the screen-based assistive technologies used to support children with special educational needs and disabilities.
“I know there are lots of pressures on families and the intention behind the guidance is not to be judgmental, but to be supportive and to provide that clear practical help that parents have been telling us they really want to see,” Phillipson said.
The guidance also recommends that artificial intelligence (AI) toys or tools should be avoided.
But Vicki Shotbolt, founder of Parent Zone, which supports families to stay safe online, says it’s very hard for young children to completely avoid tech.
She says she hopes parents will not become unnecessarily worried by it.
“A small child under the age of five who’s got an AI smart speaker in the house will be interacting with it,” she says.
“So the idea that we can completely keep them away from it is probably flawed, but it’s good general guidance.”
It comes as the government is separately carrying out a consultation on whether the UK should follow in Australia’s footsteps by making it illegal for under-16s to have access to many social media sites.