Canadian parents switch up board games, screen time for kids during pandemic: poll
Posted April 24, 2020 1:27 pm.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — While electronics can be the easiest way to keep kids entertained during the pandemic, that’s not all children are using these days.
A new Research Co survey finds 65 per cent of parents with kids aged 14 or under say they also keep their little ones entertained with board games and puzzles.
About a third of parents also admit they’re trying to set a time limit for their kids to be entertained with electronics but say it has been difficult.
Less than half of parents set a time limit on their children’s screentime and meet it.
Across Canada, three in five parents are allowing their kids to use tablets, smartphones, or other video game consoles for fun rather than learning. Just over half of parents are giving the okay for their kids to watch non-educational streaming content.
In Manitoba and Saskatchewan, 94 per cent of parents are letting their kids use their devices for non-education purposes, and the rest of Canada hovers around 60 per cent, except in Quebec where less than half of the parents are alright with it.
“The notion of allowing children aged 14 and under to stream non-educational content at home during the COVID-19 outbreak is more popular among parents in Manitoba and Saskatchewan (83%) and British Columbia (62%),” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “Fewer parents in Alberta (52%), Ontario (49%), Quebec (47%) and Atlantic Canada (also 47%) favour this approach.”
Two in five parents say it has been hard to keep the time limit they established and one-in-four parents say they haven’t tried to set a time limit at all.
