Screen Time Calculator
Three hours a day is 1,095 hours a year - about 46 full 24-hour days, and roughly a fifth of every waking hour. This calculator does that arithmetic for your child's actual numbers, including how much is still ahead of them before they turn 18.
It runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere, nothing is stored, and there is no email box to get past first.
At 3 hours a day, for a 10-year-old: 1,095 hours a year, about 46 full 24-hour days a year, roughly 20% of waking hours - and around 365 full days still ahead before they turn 18. Enable JavaScript to run it with your own numbers.
Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server and nothing is saved.
Why the yearly number changes the conversation
An hour argued over at bedtime feels small. The same hour expressed as fifteen full days a year is the same fact in a form people can act on. The calculator exists to make that translation, not to imply a target - there is no single correct number of hours, and it varies with age, what the screen is being used for, and what it is displacing.
The share of waking hours figure assumes roughly 15 waking hours a day. It is the number most parents find hardest to argue with, because it puts screen time next to everything else in the day rather than on its own.
What this does not measure
It counts hours, not value. Two hours editing a video and two hours on an autoplaying feed produce identical output here and are not remotely the same thing. Treat the result as a starting point for a conversation about what the time is going to, not a verdict.
Frequently asked questions
How much screen time is too much?
There is no single threshold that applies to every child. The American Academy of Pediatrics moved away from fixed hour limits for children over five in favour of asking whether screen use is displacing sleep, physical activity, schoolwork and time with people. Use the calculator to see the scale of current use, then judge it against what it is replacing.
Does this include school screen time?
Only if you include it in the figure you enter. Most parents find it more useful to enter recreational time separately, since school-issued Chromebook time is not usually the part they want to change.
Is any of this data saved?
No. The calculation runs in your browser. Nothing is transmitted to a server and nothing is stored between visits.
How is the waking-hours percentage worked out?
It assumes about 15 waking hours in a day, which is a reasonable average for school-age children. Younger children sleep more, so the real percentage for them is higher than shown.
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