CWLF Survey: Children in Taiwan Are Glued to Screens, Raising Concerns About Unbalanced Leisure Time
2025-04-29
The Right to Leisure is a right that is a fundamental right for children. However, are children in Taiwan truly playing and enjoying their recreational activities? Every April, Child Welfare League Foundation (CWLF) celebrates Children’s Day in Taiwan. We conducted the 2025 Survey on the Recreational Entertainment of Children in Taiwan [1] targeting children in grades five to nine (ages 9 to 16). This survey explores the daily recreational activities and entertainment preferences of children in Taiwan. The data indicates that children are spending their leisure time almost exclusively online. According to the survey, 79.6% of elementary school students and 83.3% of junior high school students reported watch videos online, while 79.6% and 76.6% respectively reported playing online games.
On the other hand, physical activity outside the virtual world is relatively low, which demonstrates sedentary activities and virtual entertainment are gradually dominating children's daily lives in modern society. The lack of quality leisure activities for children is a growing concern. Further research reveals that exercise can enhance children's overall life satisfaction. Children who exercise tend to have higher levels of positive emotions and lower levels of negative emotions. In contrast, life satisfaction is lower among children who spend more time on screen-based entertainment. Increased time spent playing online games is associated with lower levels of happiness in children. To celebrate Children’s Day, we encourage children and parents to put away smartphones and enjoy outdoor activities together!
[1] The survey participants are school students in grades five to nine. The survey was conducted from November 20, 2024 to December 20, 2024. A total of 1,410 responses were collected, with 51% male, 48.4% female, and 0.6% other. Additionally, 48.5% were elementary school students, while 51.5% were junior high school students.
On the other hand, physical activity outside the virtual world is relatively low, which demonstrates sedentary activities and virtual entertainment are gradually dominating children's daily lives in modern society. The lack of quality leisure activities for children is a growing concern. Further research reveals that exercise can enhance children's overall life satisfaction. Children who exercise tend to have higher levels of positive emotions and lower levels of negative emotions. In contrast, life satisfaction is lower among children who spend more time on screen-based entertainment. Increased time spent playing online games is associated with lower levels of happiness in children. To celebrate Children’s Day, we encourage children and parents to put away smartphones and enjoy outdoor activities together!
[1] The survey participants are school students in grades five to nine. The survey was conducted from November 20, 2024 to December 20, 2024. A total of 1,410 responses were collected, with 51% male, 48.4% female, and 0.6% other. Additionally, 48.5% were elementary school students, while 51.5% were junior high school students.
As Exercise Participation Declines, so Does the Joy of Play
The survey indicates elementary and junior high school students’ main recreational activity is sedentary screen time; for instance, 79.6% of elementary school students and 83.3% of junior high school students watch online videos, while 79.6% of elementary school students and 76.6% of junior high school students play online games. These sedentary activities keep children inactive, which contributes to a decline in exercise participation in exercise. Children tend to lose interest in exercise as they get older, with participation dropping from nearly 60% of elementary school students to 48.7% of junior high school students. In addition, a clear gender gap exists, with male students more likely to participate in exercise than female students. Recreational habits show a marked decline in physical activity, with a shift toward sedentary entertainment — raising concerns that prolonged sedentary time may pose health risks.
Notably, exercise can significantly enhance life satisfaction, reaching an average score of 7.49 [2] . Children who exercise regularly tend to experience more positive emotions and fewer negative ones. These responses suggest that exercise not only helps reduce negative emotions such as anxiety and stress but also boosts positive feelings like happiness and enthusiasm. Sedentary entertainment brings a rather low rate of satisfaction. Spending long hours on gaming (individuals who play for over 6 hours only reach 6.61 points) reduces children’s overall happiness and makes them less satisfied with their recreational time.
[2] These are self-reported evaluations provided by respondents, rated on a scale from 0 to 10, where 10 represents the best and 0 is the worst.
[2] These are self-reported evaluations provided by respondents, rated on a scale from 0 to 10, where 10 represents the best and 0 is the worst.
Age-Inappropriate Mobile Games on the Rise: Why Rating Issues Matter
When further exploring what children are currently playing online, the survey reveals that both elementary school and junior high school boys show a higher preference for mobile games, with male students reaching as high as 90%. For elementary school students, the online games they play the most are “Roblox,” followed by “Egg Party” and “Arena of Valor.” However, both “Roblox” and “Arena of Valor” are mostly rated for children aged 12 and above on iOS and Android platforms because these games contain content such as violence, bloody scenes and love relationships. The ratings of these contents do not align with Taiwan’s official rating guidelines. Especially, “Roblox” is now a popular social platform for elementary school students. Alarmingly, the content of “Roblox” features sex or violence and, even worse, sexual exploitation and scams targeting children. Due to the lack of effective content monitoring mechanisms, platforms like "Roblox" often spark controversy and raise significant concerns among parents — underscoring the need for a robust rating system [3]. Children are under the influence of video games and video game live streaming culture. When this survey looks into the YouTubers children in Taiwan follow the most, the most followed are all related to gaming, such as “Daptoper” and “Kouki.” The most popular animation is Crayon Shin-chan.
Meanwhile, girls tend to prefer watching YouTube videos and short clips, listening to music, and especially following celebrities. Amid the growing popularity of K-POP, girl groups such as (G)I-DLE have become particularly popular among children and adolescents. The data shows that 43% of elementary school girls follow celebrities — significantly higher than the 4.5% of their male peers. Although the number drops to 32.8% among junior high school girls, it remains far above the 3.6% reported for junior high school boys. These differences highlight a clear gender divide in recreational preferences.
[3] Source: https://blog.trendmicro.com.tw/?p=71790
[3] Source: https://blog.trendmicro.com.tw/?p=71790
Children’s Mental Health Worsens as Social Media Dependence Grows
The data has shown that junior high school students rely more on social media compared to elementary school students. A total of 38% of junior high school students feel the need for prolonged social media use to achieve satisfaction. Additionally, 30.2% of junior high students and 20.4% of elementary students report experiencing discomfort after spending too much time on these platforms. Even without a specific purpose, over half of junior high school students (51.9%) and more than 40% of elementary school students cannot resist scrolling through their smartphones. This phenomenon illustrates children's significant reliance on social media.
In terms of age differences in preference for social media platforms, elementary school students prefer to use TikTok, while junior high school students prefer to use Instagram. What’s concerning is that one in five junior high school students report feeling anxious when they can’t access social media, which affects their ability to stay focused and maintain emotional stability. These trends indicate that children in Taiwan are heavily reliant on social media. Not only do they struggle to relax, but they may also be at risk of developing mental health issues.
Putting Down Phones for Better Leisure and Growth
The survey highlights that during their limited recreational time, most children engage in sedentary screen-based activities such as browsing the internet, playing online games, or watching videos. A striking 64% of junior high school students play online games daily. CWLF recommends that parents carefully manage their children's smartphone use. The data shows that children report higher life satisfaction (7.53 points) when smartphone use is limited to 1 to 2 hours per day. However, using smartphones for more than 2 hours daily is associated with lower quality of life and potential physical and mental discomfort.
As a result, parents can work with their children to create a smartphone usage plan. This plan should detail specific times for use, the content to be accessed, and the locations where smartphones can be used. Also, parents can use an app to track and set an "off-screen" time, such as putting away phones before dinner and sleeping time. Also, exercise is crucial to the physical and mental development of children as it can bring stress relief, promote one’s energy, and minimize negative emotions. CWLF recommends parents take their children to participate in outdoor activities on weekends, such as ball games, swimming, jogging or dancing. Such activities can help cultivate regular exercise habits. Schools should also increase the number of regular PE classes or organize fun sports competitions to make recreational time a key part of children's leisure activities.
CWLF underscores that children’s right to leisure is not only a pastime, but it is also the basic protection for their personality development to allow them to have the freedom to explore, have fun, and rest without placing excessive restrictions on their lives. This is a right being protected by the UNCRC article 31, which points out “…the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child…” [4]. This is a fundamental human right and a commitment to future generations. With proper management of children’s smartphone use and raising awareness, leisure time can become an important part of their growth and well-being.
[4] Source: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: https://www.unicef.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/UNCRC_PRESS200910web.pdf
[4] Source: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: https://www.unicef.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/UNCRC_PRESS200910web.pdf