05/10/2026
“Screen time damages children more than being born into poverty.”
That was the headline from The Telegraph, following a study reviewing 2.8 million young people across 64 countries, which found that digital media use had a significant impact on children’s development.
It stopped me.
Because yes, screen time matters.
But I don’t think the most helpful conversation is simply:
“Are screens bad?”
The deeper question might be:
What are screens replacing?
Because when childhood becomes more digital, more hurried, more managed and more indoors, something else quietly disappears.
The long afternoon outside.
The story read aloud.
The den that takes all morning to build.
The boredom that turns into imagination.
The friendship negotiated without an adult stepping in too quickly.
The mud kitchen, the conker collection, the climbing, the balancing, the wondering.
The real-life experiences that help children feel capable in the world.
Peter Gray explores this so powerfully in his latest book Restoring Childhood. His argument isn’t simply that screens are the problem. It’s that children have lost so much freedom, autonomy, play, responsibility and time to simply be children.
And this is why I find what Norway is doing so interesting.
They are beginning to move back towards something more traditional.
Less reliance on screens in early childhood.
More printed books.
More reading aloud.
More caution around AI in primary school.
More protection around smartphones and social media.
More focus on play, friendships, movement, stories and real-life childhood.
And I keep thinking…
Maybe this isn’t about going backwards.
Maybe it’s about returning to what children have always needed.
As an Early Years educator with over twenty years of experience working in nurseries, Reception classes and leading a whole school, and now as a mummy to my own little wilding, I don’t think this conversation should be about fear or shame.
Parents are tired.
Educators are stretched.
Screens often creep in because modern childhood has become too fast, too pressured and too full.
But maybe this headline is an invitation.
Not just to ask:
“How do we reduce screens?”
But to ask:
How do we restore childhood?
How do we bring back more story?
More song?
More movement?
More nature?
More uninterrupted play?
More hands-on experiences?
More emotionally safe adults?
More time to repeat, revisit and go deeper?
Because children don’t just need fewer screens.
They need more life.
More mud.
More books.
More stories.
More outdoor play.
More cosy corners.
More real conversations.
More time to wonder.
More adults who understand development, behaviour and big feelings through a whole-child lens.
This is why slow pedagogy matters so much.
It isn’t about creating a pretty, nostalgic version of childhood.
It’s about protecting the conditions children actually need to grow well.
And this is exactly the kind of conversation we’ll be having inside The Unhurried Child Online Conference.
A beautiful 48-hour online conference for Early Years educators who believe childhood deserves time.
Time to play.
Time to move.
Time to be outdoors.
Time to build relationships.
Time to feel safe.
Time to grow slowly and securely.
We’ll be exploring slow pedagogy, nature, movement, behaviour, nervous system safety, whole-child development and what it really means to protect childhood in a world that keeps asking children to grow up too quickly.
If this is the kind of childhood you want to protect in your setting, I’d love you to join us.
The Unhurried Child Online Conference
21st November 2026
48-hour access
Come and be part of a different conversation. One rooted in play, connection, nature and the whole child.
https://www.hyggeintheearlyyears.co.uk/conference-6d14f373-13e9-4d83-ac39-6df6a357c7e4
