King Willem-Alexander thinks children should find other solutions to boredom than phones

King Willem-Alexander has said that he hopes children don’t reach for their phones instantly when they get bored. That is exactly the right moment to do something together with somebody else, he said in a special episode of Zappsport about the Koningsspelen, a sports week for primary school students.

“When I think back to the time that we were small when there was no social media or telephones, then boredom was the time to come up with creative, fun things to do together,” Willem-Alexander said when reflecting on his childhood. “So if you are bored, don’t grab your phone straight away. But think for a second: what can we come up with to do together?”

Queen Maxima added to his point by saying that too much screen time is bad for the eyes. According to her, it is better to look outside for two minutes every 20 minutes that you spend looking at a screen, she said in advice to children. “And play outside for two hours every day.”

The queen said in February that her youngest daughter, Ariane, has eyesight-related issues due to too much screen time.

Willem-Alexander and Maxima gave the starting signal for the opening of the Koningsspelen on Thursday morning at a primary school in Roosendaal. This began, as is the tradition, with a group breakfast.

The king thinks it is important that children start their day with a good breakfast, he told Zappsport. “I always say: you don’t go to school with a phone with no battery. You charge the battery of your phone at night, so you need to charge your own battery every day.”

Willem-Alexander also said that he thinks one day of sports in a year is nowhere near enough and therefore pushed how important it is to keep moving and eat healthy food. “And have fun together. Especially that.”