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Concerns about the harm caused by “too much” screen time—particularly when it is spent on social media—are widespread. But working out what a “healthy” ___ might be is far from easy.

Some negative experiences on social media—like ____ how your appearance compares to others—do affect some children. However, this does not mean that technology use in ____ is harmful and it is difficult to make claims about how it will affect different people.

Consider the picture painted by a UNICEF review of existing research into the effects of digital technology on children’s ____ comfort, including happiness, mental health and social life. Rather than stating that social media was harmful, it suggested a more ____ effect.

The UNICEF report highlighted a 2017 study that examined 120,000 UK 15-year-olds. Among those teenagers who were the lightest users, it was found that increasing the time spent using technology was linked to ____ comfort—possibly because it was important for keeping up friendships. ____, among the heaviest users of technology, any increase in time was linked to lower levels of comfort. Overall, the UNICEF study suggested that some screen time could be good for children’s mental health.

A broader look at evidence provided by some other high quality studies again suggests the story is not ____. An early study in 2013 looked at how the television and video game habits of 11,000 UK five-year-olds affected them two years later. It is one of few studies actually ____ the effects of technology over time. It suggested that, compared with children who watched one hour of television or less on a weekday, a small increase in conduct problems was seen among those who watched more than three hours each day. Playing electronic games, however, was not seen as leading to a greater ____ of friendship or emotional problems.

So how much time should our children spend looking at screens? It is difficult to be ____ as different people spend time online in such different ways. A useful comparison might be with sugar. Broadly speaking, people ____ that too much sugar can be bad for your health. But the effect it might have can depend on many factors, from the type of sugar to the person and the amount. We would not ____ trust anyone who claims to predict how someone is affected by consuming one gram of sugar. The same could be said for ____ usage: the outcomes depend on so many factors that only very ___ predictions are possible.