S1E64: Dr Becky, millennial parent whisperer, on screentime and modern parenting

Feb 3, 2026

16:05

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Are we using phones constructively to help kids to learn or assist adults in coping?

Synopsis: On Wednesdays, The Straits Times takes a hard look at Singapore's social issues of the day with guests.

One of the most fraught challenges of modern parenting is our love-hate relationship with screen time. From school bans on phones in school, to the everyday reality of dual-income working parents who just need their child to eat dinner in peace, how much is too much screentime and who should be responsible?

Are we using phones constructively to help kids to learn or assist adults in coping? And in a dopamine fuelled always-on world where we are expected to be 24/7 ready for work, are we asking our offspring to do something we ourselves fail at?

Opinion editor Lin Suling gets answers from Dr Becky, who’s been called the millennial parent whisperer by Time Magazine, on the sidelines of the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos in January.

With millions of followers on Instagram tuning into her snappy videos, Dr Rebecca Kennedy is also a bestselling author, a clinical psychologist, the CEO of Good Inside, and mother of three.

Highlights (click/tap above):

1:59 Is there a place for phone bans in schools?

3:45 What’s wrong with kids watching videos during mealtimes?

5:10 Parents are always on their phones for work so why should kids listen?

8:06 Is society intolerant towards misbehaviour in restaurants, airplanes and public areas?

9:58 Might we be over-parenting?

11:23 Is there a minimum age when kids can sit by themselves?

12:40 Dr Becky’s message to people unsure about having kids

Read ST’s Opinion section: https://str.sg/w7sH

Host: Lin Suling (linsuling@sph.com.sg)

Produced and edited by: Hadyu Rahim

Executive producers: Ernest Luis & Lynda Hong