- No screens at the dinner table. Many families already struggle to eat dinner together regularly due to busy schedules, so when they do have a chance to gather, it’s important that screens aren’t present. Family meals, involving at least some members of the family just two to three times a week, confer numerous protective benefits for kids’ mental and physical health.
- No screens in the bedroom. Late at night when kids are unsupervised is often when they get into trouble on their phones. Late-night scrolling also detracts from sleep. Google and Apple have made it easier for parents to set up parental controls on Android and Apple devices.
- No screens for babies. Babies don’t understand what they are seeing on a screen, according to Dr. Law. That’s why the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that, for the first 18 months of life, babies’ screen time should be limited to video chatting with Grandma. When you do introduce screens to young children, join them in watching, doctors say, to help kids make sense of what they are seeing.
- Stick to smart, positive content. The types of videos kids watch or the posts they see can make all the difference in their mental health. Watching some amount of junk isn’t likely to result in harm. It’s when kids venture down dangerous rabbit holes that screens can do damage.
- Take regular breaks. Kids don’t have to do a month-long digital detox to derive benefits from a break. You can set aside time each day when your kids don’t use screens at all, or designate a weekend day as being screen free. When teens and young adults cut their social-media use in half for just a few weeks, they felt significantly better about their weight and appearance, compared with a group who didn’t.
