Screen-free Children: Reclaiming Childhood in the Artificial Intelligence Era

Mr Speaker, I move, "That Parliament do now adjourn."

Question proposed.

Mr Ng Shi Xuan.

Mr Speaker, at my introduction at Bukit Canberra last year, I spoke about healthy minds and healthy bodies for our children. Today, I want to return to that idea, starting with screen-free children.

Childhood, below the age of 18, is the one stage of life where children should be free. Free to play, free to wonder, free to make mistakes, and free from unnecessary pressures and anxieties. Increasingly, that means being screen-free too. Not because screens are inherently bad, but because childhood development requires experiences that no screen can fully replicate.

This Adjournment Motion is not about opposing screens as tools for education or communication. Rather, it is about ensuring that children have meaningful alternatives to screens, and that those alternatives remain affordable and accessible to every family.

Our television at home broke down when my first child was born and we never replaced it. Friends and volunteers who visit are still caught off guard by a living room with no TV console. Today, my three children use screens purposefully to video call their grandparents, to watch a science experiment before trying it themselves or to find song lyrics so that we can sing together. Screens are tools, not companions.

We got lucky with a broken television. I know how easy it is to hand a child a screen and buy yourself 20 minutes to shower or simply catch your breath. For families who have less time, less space and fewer alternatives, the screen might feel like the only option. This is what brings me to this Motion today.

In my maiden speech, I said that Singapore is what it is today because we invested heavily in human capital, our only enduring competitive advantage. Yet, some of the foundations of human capital are built much earlier through play, social interaction, curiosity and resilience. As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly capable of processing information, the qualities that make us distinctly human – empathy, curiosity, judgement and resilience – will matter even more.

Watching my children as they grow, I have noticed this. The moments they were the most alive, most curious and most connected to each other and to me were never in front of a screen. They were in the playground, in conversations, in disagreements and in laughters. But screens are crowding out these experiences that were developing the very human qualities in them.

You do not need to look far to see this. In coffee shops, parents and children can be sharing a meal yet entirely apart on their screens. Research globally and in Singapore similarly links excessive screen use with poorer physical activity, weaker social interaction, behavioural challenges and poorer mental wellness.

This speech is about reclaiming childhood in the AI era. It takes a kampong to raise a child and reclaiming childhood will likewise require a whole-of-Government effort. My recommendations today span the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), the Ministry of National Development (MND), the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) because no single Ministry can solve this challenge alone.

Mr Speaker, every hour spent on a screen has an opportunity cost. It is an hour not spent running, climbing, reading, exploring, creating or interacting with others. The concern moves beyond what children are consuming online to what they are no longer doing because of screens.

If we are serious about reducing children's screen dependency, we must focus not only on restrictions but also on replacements. This is not about asking the Government to choose between regulation and alternatives. We need both. Regulation reduces harm while community, play and family support create meaningful alternatives to screens. Together, they give our children the opportunity to reclaim childhood.

I have four recommendations: first, strengthen community programmes as meaningful alternatives to screens; second, improve our playgrounds and apply the Play Values Framework more broadly, recognising playgrounds as developmental infrastructure; third, strengthen screen-time guidance, engagement and social media safeguards for children below 18; and fourth, strengthen whole-of-Government coordination on childhood development.

My first recommendation is for MCCY to strengthen community programmes to support young parents who are often stretched for time. Over the past year, we piloted three initiatives in Naval Base that illustrate what this could look like.

The first is Sembawang Budding Rangers. This is a child-centred outdoor learning and nature exploration programme run by our Youth Network. Following the forest school methodology, children come together for three hours every fortnight to “touch grass”.

One participant, five-year-old Jingyi, developed a much deeper appreciation for nature after just two sessions. During one of them, she saw a dead bird and told her father that, “She didn’t like to see the dead bird in the forest, she felt very sad”. When her father told her that forests may be cleared for housing in Singapore, she was upset and full of questions. She has now taken it upon herself to tell her classmates not to waste paper because she explains, “Otherwise, we have to chop more trees”. She is five. No app taught her to grieve for a bird, or to connect that grief to a bigger picture or to try to change the behaviour of the people around her.

The second programme is LumiPals, a 10-week programme developing social and creative skills among children aged four to six. Parents have noticed greater curiosity, confidence and willingness to speak up, exactly the qualities they worry are diminishing in today's digital environment.

The third initiative is our "Stop the Scrolls, Start the Talks" conversation cards. Sometimes, the answer is not another app. Sometimes, it is simply a conversation. We launched the cards with two local eateries in Sembawang to encourage families to reconnect over meals, and the early response has been encouraging.

These initiatives are not meant to replace parents. They are meant to support parents.

Mr Speaker, I believe MCCY, working through the People's Association (PA) and community partners, has an important role in seeding and expanding regular programmes, such as Budding Rangers and LumiPals, across Singapore. This should be a concerted effort to engage children weekly and not restricted to school holidays, such as the current PA Kiddies programmes. We introduced these programmes because many parents have told us that while resources and ideas exist online, they often lack the time, confidence or support to organise such activities themselves.

Such programmes also already exist privately, some would say, but outdoor programmes can cost anywhere between $250 and $800 per child. Meaningful alternatives to screens should not depend solely on a family's ability to pay. Existing community programmes are helpful but there is scope to make them more coordinated, visible and responsive to these young families’ needs.

Therefore, I hope to see a holistic review of our community programmes for young children in Singapore, including making more affordable outdoor and tactile play programmes in the community available. Community centres, grassroots organisations and local partners are well placed to provide these meaningful alternatives to screens within every neighbourhood.

My second recommendation is to continue improving our playgrounds and neighbourhood play spaces. With around 72% of Singapore's playgrounds located within Housing and Development Board (HDB) estates, I welcome HDB's Play Values Framework, which recognises the developmental importance of play. As the framework is progressively implemented, I hope the Government will continue to strengthen play value alongside established safety benchmarks, expand mixed age group playgrounds where practical, and incorporate more open and flexible play spaces into future estate designs.

Not all play requires equipment. Some of my fondest childhood memories growing up in Yishun came from an open field outside Block 137. All I needed was a ball and some room to run. In a densely planned city, these simple spaces are becoming increasingly precious. Playgrounds and open spaces are developmental infrastructure. If we want our children off screens and outdoors, we must give them somewhere worth going.

My third recommendation is for MOH and MDDI to strengthen screen time guidelines and social media regulation. Sir, there is no lack of literature today on the harms associated with excessive screen and social media use among children. Much of it reinforces what our existing screen use guidance already recognises. An MOH-convened expert panel also found that one in three social media users aged 15 to 17 already spend more than three hours a day on social media. This brings us back to the opportunity cost I spoke about earlier. What else could those hours have been spent doing?

I welcome Minister Josephine Teo's announcement last month that legislation will be introduced early next year to require stronger safeguards for teen users, potentially including daily time limits, restrictions on direct messaging, autoplay and infinite scroll. I also welcome the Government's willingness to raise the minimum age of access to 18, where platforms are unable or unwilling to provide adequate safeguards.

A recent development in the US is instructive. In August, Meta reached a landmark settlement of up to US$17 billion with US states over allegations concerning the impact of its platforms on young users. Meta agreed to introduce safeguards, including daily time limits, nighttime restrictions, stronger age assurance and restrictions on certain engagement features for users under 18. Interestingly, some of the tougher safeguards will apply only if other major platforms adopt comparable measures. Meta's argument is simple – if restrictions apply to only one platform, young users may simply migrate to another.

This raises three questions for MDDI. First, will these safeguards apply consistently across designated social media services so that use does not simply migrate from one platform to another? Second, how will child development expertise inform the design of these safeguards? Third, how will MDDI assess whether the measures are actually reducing problematic social media use rather than merely achieving platform compliance?

I welcome the Government's measured and targeted approach and recognise that no single intervention will solve the problem. But measured should not mean slow. Technology evolves rapidly, and our safeguards must focus not merely on compliance but outcomes and be capable of keeping pace.

Mr Speaker, regulation alone cannot reclaim childhood. But without a healthier digital environment, our efforts in families, communities and neighbourhoods will always be fighting an uphill battle. That is why I hope MDDI will continue to move decisively in strengthening safeguards for our children.

My fourth and final recommendation is to strengthen whole-of-Government coordination on childhood development through a National Childhood Framework.

Grow Well SG, launched by MOH, MOE and MSF, is a meaningful multi-Ministry initiative to coordinate the health and development of our children. I commend the Ministries for this initiative. But Grow Well SG, for all its strengths, is primarily a health promotion strategy. Childhood, however, extends beyond health. It also encompasses play, nature, community, family relationships and increasingly, the digital environment in which our children are growing up. Countries, such as Finland, Australia and New Zealand, have developed broader frameworks for child well-being.

In this vein, I urge the Government to consider expanding the Grow Well SG framework into a broader National Childhood Framework. The framework could bring together the work of MCCY, MND, MDDI, MOE, MOH and MSF under a shared vision for childhood development. It should articulate the experiences that every child in Singapore should have access to, regardless of postal code or household income, and provide a long-term roadmap towards that vision.

Mr Speaker, Singapore plans decades ahead for our economy, our infrastructure, our healthcare system and our defence. If human capital remains Singapore's greatest competitive advantage, then childhood deserves the same quality of long-term, cross-Government thinking. Grow Well SG provides a strong foundation. A National Childhood Framework could become the next step in that journey.

Mr Speaker, I began this speech with a broken television, but it healed my children’s childhood. I did not plan for it but I have come to believe it was one of the best things that happened to my family.

I think about Jingyi, who grieved for a bird that she had never met and went home to tell her classmates to stop wasting paper. She is only but five years old, and she already understands that the world outside the screen is richer and worthwhile protecting. I think about the children of LumiPals, who started to speak up louder, clearer and more confidently. They are simply children, given the opportunity to do what children have always done – to grow, connect and surprise us.

Today, I have argued that reducing screen dependency requires meaningful alternatives. Regulation reduces harm, while community programmes, play-friendly neighbourhoods and family support create healthier choices. Taken together, they help reclaim childhood.

If human capital remains Singapore's greatest competitive advantage, then childhood is where that investment begins. Our children will grow up as digital natives and screens will remain important tools, but they should never become their companions. Reclaiming childhood will require heavy coordination across Government because no single Ministry can do it alone.

It is no child's play. It is an investment in Singapore's future. [Applause.]

Minister of State Rahayu Mahzam.

Mr Speaker, I thank the Member, Mr Ng Shi Xuan for his speech and in particular, for sharing his personal experiences and reflection. I think his story about the broken television and the story about little Jingyi give us some things to think about.

I understand that many parents especially are very concerned about the impact of social media, of digital technology, of AI and screen time on their children. And this is also something that we as a Government are concerned about. I know they think about this; they talk about this; and they feel that more should be done. And Mr Ng Shi Xuan earlier gave four recommendations for us to look at.

Actually, all of them are things that we are in agreement with; we are in alignment with. In fact, they are very aligned to the efforts that the Government has already been working on. And in fact, Mr Ng also made references to some of this in his speech.

First, he made a recommendation in relation to strengthening of community programmes and to provide alternatives to screen times for the children. We are in agreement with this. We do feel that it is important to have a lot more community programmes, so that parents have alternatives that they can bring their children to.

In this regard, we have actually been building on our efforts with PA. PA has rolled out the PA Family PLAYGround  programmes. The National Family Festival is also quite alive and translating into a lot of activities in the community, all intended to bring meaningful family bonding activities for families. And so, this is something we can definitely scale and look into.

We also have the "Screen Smart from the Start" campaign and in this, we have the bescreensmart.gov.sg portal, where we actually have resources for parents, there are digital parenting programmes, and also a lot of activities in the community that you can look out for – in the libraries, HPB programmes. So, these are things that we can build on.

I am happy to hear that Mr Ng himself has programmes in Naval Base – the Sembawang Budding Rangers, LumiPals, and the "Stop the Scrolls, Start the Talks" conversation cards. I think these are good things that we can definitely build into some of the existing efforts and scale them and have more presence in the community.

The second recommendation he makes is about improving the playgrounds. We agree that physical environment is very important. It matters, and this is the feedback we will take back. But we are actually already working with different agencies and Ministries to improve access, for families to have easier access to playgrounds and also other family-friendly spaces, like parks and sports facilities. So, this is something that is already in the works.

Third, Mr Ng suggested we strengthen screen time guidelines as well as our social media regulations.

He is already aware that MOH and MDDI are already working together in looking at the impact of social media on the mental health of young people. We are already working with social media platforms to strengthen some of these safeguards. We have been answering a few Parliamentary Questions this Sitting on how we are doing it. We have already indicated our broad framework and how we will be approaching this matter. When we have more information and it is better cooked, we will inform you. We will keep the public updated about the developments on this matter.

The fourth proposal that he made is for a national childhood framework.

We note his proposal to study some of the frameworks that are already being done in other countries. Actually, Grow Well SG is something that we look at as a holistic approach. It is something that we look at holistically. We do learn lessons from other jurisdictions and contextualise it for Singapore's needs. We are working with different Ministries. These are some things that we will continue to build on and enhance. We will take his feedback, take it back and see how we will continue to improve on these efforts. But indeed, the whole intent of Grow Well SG is to have it holistic, child-centric and have multiple Ministries and a whole-of-Government approach towards looking at a child's development holistically.

I just want to assure Member that this is an effort that the Government will continue to be committed to look at. We are committed to helping children grow to be healthy, confident and resilient, especially in this digital and increasingly AI-driven world. We will take a multi-Ministry, whole-of-Government and whole-of-society approach. Everybody has a role to play in this. We certainly look forward to continue working with the community and advisors and Members, like Mr Ng, to continue enhance the work that we are already doing.

Question put, and agreed to.

Resolved, "That Parliament do now adjourn."

Adjourned accordingly at 5.21 pm.