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Psychology · Free calculator

Child Screen Time Score Calculator

Screen time guidance obsesses over hours. This scores the things that actually predict harm — sleep displacement, mealtime use, content type, and how hard the handover is.

Short answer

Child Screen Time Score Calculator

16Screen risk score

Screens are displacing the things that build sleep, attention and connection. Structural change needed, not willpower. You scored 16/24 (67% of the maximum), with 8 of 8 items in the upper half. The single highest item was "Screens are cutting into their sleep or used in the hour before bed" — that is usually the most useful thing to bring up first, because specific examples get better help than a general "I've been off lately."

How it's calculated: 16 out of 24 — displacement range on this scale. Adjust the inputs below to recalculate for your own numbers.

Disclaimer: For reflection and self-awareness, not clinical assessment. Scores are based on published, widely used research frameworks but this tool is not a validated instrument and results should be treated as a conversation starter, not a verdict.

New here? Watch it work in 2 seconds — then tweak it for you.
2

0 = not at all · 1 = several days · 2 = more than half the days · 3 = nearly every day

2

0 = not at all · 1 = several days · 2 = more than half the days · 3 = nearly every day

2

0 = not at all · 1 = several days · 2 = more than half the days · 3 = nearly every day

2

0 = not at all · 1 = several days · 2 = more than half the days · 3 = nearly every day

2

0 = not at all · 1 = several days · 2 = more than half the days · 3 = nearly every day

2

0 = not at all · 1 = several days · 2 = more than half the days · 3 = nearly every day

2

0 = not at all · 1 = several days · 2 = more than half the days · 3 = nearly every day

2

0 = not at all · 1 = several days · 2 = more than half the days · 3 = nearly every day

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Formula used

How the score is calculated

Eight items scored 0–3 and summed to 0–24. Deliberately measures pattern, not duration. Paediatric guidance has moved away from raw hour limits for school-age children toward displacement (what the screen replaced), timing (sleep proximity), content type (algorithmic feeds versus chosen, co-viewed content), and behavioural response at handover.

Total = sum of 8 items (0–3 each) → 0–24 → severity band
Items
8
Per-item range
0–3
Time to complete
About 2 minutes
Score range
0–24
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Hours are the wrong metric after about age 6

Two hours of a co-viewed film with a parent and two hours of an autoplaying short-video feed at 10pm are not the same exposure. The four items that matter most on this scale are sleep proximity, displacement, content type, and handover distress — which is why a child at four hours can score lower than a child at ninety minutes.

The handover meltdown is the most useful single signal

Disproportionate distress at the end of a session usually indicates the content is variable-reward (feeds, loot mechanics, autoplay) rather than finite. Switching to finite content — an episode, a level, a film — commonly removes the meltdown without reducing minutes.

Related guides

Long-form playbooks on the same topic, written by the RevenueLab editorial team.

Guide · 9 min read

End Screens Are an RPM Lever: How Session Lift Quietly Reprices Your Ad Inventory

Why YouTube pays a 10–25% RPM premium on session-positive videos, the four end-screen elements that actually convert, the 20-second design rule, and how voiceover outros 3× end-screen CTR.

Read the guide

FAQ

How much screen time is OK?

Major paediatric bodies give hard limits only for under-5s. Above that, guidance focuses on whether screens displace sleep, physical activity, schoolwork and in-person time — which is what this tool scores.

Is educational content different?

Meaningfully, yes — especially when co-viewed. The strongest predictor of benefit is an adult engaging with the content alongside the child.

Should I ban phones at night?

Charging devices outside the bedroom is the single highest-yield rule in almost every study of adolescent sleep.

How this calculator is built

Independently maintained

Written by Sam Doshi and the RevenueLab editorial team. We don't sell the data feeds this tool is built on.

Sourced from primary data

Benchmarks come from public AdSense / Stripe / IRS disclosures and reader-submitted data — never third-party "$X per view" claims. Full methodology.

Last editorial review

Reviewed on a rolling quarterly cycle. Dated reviews are published on the methodology record for each calculator.

Editorial standards

See our editorial policy and disclaimer. Results are estimates, not advice.

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