SINGAPORE: Advice from Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on managing children’s screen time has drawn mixed reactions online, with some Singaporeans supporting his message while others questioned whether he was the right person to give parenting advice.

Mr Wong launched Screen Smart From The Start, a new national movement by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI), on May 31. The initiative aims to help parents cultivate healthy digital habits in children from a young age and includes a new Be Screen Smart portal that consolidates government resources and practical guidance.

Speaking at the National Family Festival Family Carnival at Singapore Expo, Mr Wong acknowledged that many parents are concerned about their children’s digital habits but are unsure where to begin.

“We want to make this practical and actionable for parents,” he said.

Among the measures he suggested were having no phones during family meals and avoiding phones in bedrooms, noting that parents have little control over whether children are using devices late into the night once they are behind closed doors.

Mr Wong also encouraged parents to delay giving smartphones to their children for as long as possible.

“With these strong foundations, hopefully it becomes easier to manage screen time when children grow older,” he said. “Eventually they will have their own smartphones, but we want to instil in them the confidence and values to navigate the online world responsibly and safely.”

He said Singapore needed to establish new social norms for the digital age through cooperation between parents, schools and community groups.

“We must, together, collectively create new social norms for the digital age. It must start with all of us working closely with parents, schools and community groups so that together, we can build healthier habits from young,” he added.

Mr Wong noted that the Government had already banned smartphone use during school hours and was planning to strengthen safeguards around access to social media.

He also reiterated the Government’s commitment to supporting families, including parents of young children and Singaporeans hoping to start families.

In explaining the rationale behind the initiative, Mr Wong said concerns over children’s media consumption were not new, noting that previous generations worried about comics, television and video games. However, he argued that today’s digital environment poses greater challenges due to addictive features, harmful content and toxic online interactions.

The announcement quickly generated discussion online.

Some critics questioned whether the Prime Minister should be weighing in on parenting issues at all.

“Does a PM need to get into such matters?” one commenter asked.

Others focused on Mr Wong’s lack of children, with several remarks questioning whether someone without personal parenting experience could advise parents.

“So how many children do you have?” one netizen wrote.

Another commented: “He got children? No children yet, teaching others about screen time for children.”

A similar sentiment was echoed by another netizen who wrote that raising a child from birth through school, National Service and eventually into the workforce was “a long journey”, questioning whether Mr Wong had experienced that process firsthand.

Some commenters also pointed to what they saw as contradictions between calls to reduce screen use and Singapore’s increasingly digital society.

One netizen remarked that QR-code ordering systems have become commonplace at eateries, making it difficult for parents to explain why children should spend less time on phones when adults are frequently required to use them.

“But everything is digital these days. Even go out makan, they ask to scan QR on table then kids ask why are we holding the phones for too long,” the commenter wrote.

Another netizen argued that the issue extended beyond parenting, pointing to the sight of commuters glued to their smartphones during peak-hour public transport journeys.

The commenter said children may wonder why adults are constantly looking at their phones instead of interacting with one another, adding that responsibility for changing habits should not rest solely with parents.

Some also questioned how advice to delay smartphone ownership aligned with Singapore’s push towards artificial intelligence and digital literacy.

“Yesterday and the day before, [he] was talking about AI… If you don’t give them a phone, how to get them started with AI?” one netizen asked.

Not all reactions were critical, however.

One netizen defended Mr Wong’s remarks and pushed back against the idea that only parents could speak credibly about children’s well-being.

“You don’t have to die to tell what will cause death. We don’t need to have children to know what’s best for children. We have been children,” the netizen wrote.

The commenter added that smartphone addiction affects adults as well as children and argued that teaching responsible use from a young age was preferable to intervening only after unhealthy habits had become entrenched.

This article (Singaporeans divided over PM Wong’s screen-time advice for parents) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.