Vi måste börja prata om barnens skärmtid
In this June 2023 opinion piece for Aftonbladet, Sweden's newly appointed Social Minister Jakob Forssmed argues that a decade of rapidly rising screen use has reshaped children's lives without a serious public reckoning with the consequences. He cites survey figures showing the share of 14-year-olds online more than three hours on an average day climbing from about 30 percent in 2010 to 76 percent in 2020, and a national health survey finding roughly three in ten teenagers spend five or more hours a day sitting in front of screens outside school hours. Forssmed associates heavy digital-media use with less time for sleep, physical activity, reading, and in-person connection, and announces that his government has commissioned public-health guidance on reasonable screen use and asked agencies to examine how attention-holding platform design affects children. TechKids Foundation cites this as Forssmed's own early framing of screen time as a governing priority, not an independent research finding.
Forssmed cites this decade-long rise in heavy daily internet use among 14-year-olds as evidence of how quickly childhood screen habits changed.
He cites the annual 'Pep-rapporten' survey finding that about 30% of teenagers spend five or more hours a day sedentary in front of a screen outside lesson time.
Forssmed, Jakob. "Vi måste börja prata om barnens skärmtid." Aftonbladet Debatt, June 3, 2023. https://www.aftonbladet.se/debatt/a/l3X7mL/forssmed-vi-maste-borja-prata-om-barnens-skarmtid