Set Limits on Kids’ Screen Time

Keep TVs, video games, and computers in common areas, instead of kids’ bedrooms. This means kids can’t disappear into their rooms for hours at a time. They must share screen time with other family members, and you can keep better tabs on what they’re doing and for how long. This is really hard with portable devices like tablets and smartphones! At a minimum, require these devices to be charged overnight in common areas, not bedrooms, so they don’t interfere with kids’ sleep.

Some families find that it’s easiest to just keep screens off on school days, during the summer, or (for example) between the hours of 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Mealtimes, in particular, should always be screen-free—and that includes Mom and Dad’s phones too.

Rules like this keep you from having to make day-by-day or case-by-case decisions on how much screen time is too much. Once kids get over their initial resistance, they’ll accept this rule like any other.

Or, you can use technology to fight technology, with tools such as the Luma or Torch router, or the Circle by Disney router plug-in. These allow you to control when and for how long your family’s devices are online, and what sites and apps they access.

Determine how much daily or weekly screen time you’re comfortable with—say, one hour per day on weekdays and two on weekends, not counting screens needed for schoolwork. Alert your children to this limit and explain why you’re enforcing it: Too much sedentary time is truly detrimental to their health. For young children, simply say that spending too much time on screens isn’t good for their brains and bodies. Determine the consequences for breaking these rules ahead of time.

Encourage kids to take walks, ride bikes, play outside, or play indoor active games instead of using their screens. Playing with them is often a big draw. You might also work with them to create a list of non-screen activities they enjoy, so you can all refer to it when you’ve had too much screen time.

Customize your screen-limiting strategies to your child’s age. For preschoolers, offer distractions. If you typically let your child play on a tablet while you shower or prepare dinner, find an activity she can do alongside you instead (color with washable crayons on the outside of the tub, say, or tear up lettuce for a salad). For school-aged kids, make screen time a privilege that they earn (see below), and plan frequent playdates so they can’t complain of “nothing to do.” For teens, reserve your right to remove access to cell phones and the Internet if grades slip or household duties go undone.

Require kids to earn screen time by doing homework, chores, music or sports practice, playing outside, and so on. There are many ways to set this up. You might offer tickets or chips that they have to cash in when they watch TV or play online, for example. Or have them keep track of time spent on chores, and allow the same amount of screen time. Or simply rule that homework always comes first, and then any time left over can be spent on TV (set an upper limit on that leftover time, though!).

Turn the TV on to watch specific shows, then turn it off. Don’t leave it on as background noise. Watch with your children so you can monitor the appropriateness of their choices. If you see something you don’t like, speak up! Those are great teaching moments. Use a digital video recorder or streaming service to time-shift your viewing, so your watching time matches your schedule. Try a motion-controlled game to up the activity level of video gaming (although these games shouldn’t replace other, more vigorous exercise).

Remember that what you do sends a much more powerful message than what you say. If you flip on the TV news as soon as you walk in the house in the evening or check your phone at stoplights, it’s going to be much harder to enforce rules about your child’s screen time.

Allow your child some choice about what and when he watches TV or uses a tablet, as long as he stays within your family guidelines about screen time. Try to avoid switching off the set in the middle of a show or shutting down his video game mid-level. Give warnings before time is up, and allow kids (especially little ones) the chance to press the “off” button themselves.

If your child is really into TV, movies, or video games, encourage her to flip to the other side of the screen and try making her own! She could choreograph a dance, stage an epic Nerf battle or tell a fun story of her very own.