Parenting and Development

Screen Time and Digital Media Use

Dad and kiddo playing video games

Screens and digital media are a large part of everyday life. Many children, teens and adults spend hours in front of a screen. They watch videos or TV, play games, text, use apps and social media, browse the Internet and more. This can be fun and, in some cases, educational, but make sure it doesn’t take too much time from other activities or expose your child or teen to harm.

Are there media use guidelines by age?

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has changed their advice around media use to better support families. The focus is on ensuring that media use doesn’t push out activities that are needed for your child’s healthy growth and development. They encourage families to be thoughtful about the choices they make and continue to check in through open conversations. The advice moves away from the suggested limits by age group that you may have seen in the past.

Create a media use plan that is right for your family with the AAP’s Family Media Plan tool. The tool leads you through questions about your family, including your ages, values and routines. You can print and share the plan and tips, with the option to save it and update it online as often as you like.

Why should I pay attention to my child’s screen time?

Screen time can:

Take away from time talking and playing with family and friends
Take the place of physical activity and lead to weight gain
Impact the amount and quality of sleep
Interfere with emotional well-being
Affect thinking, speaking and reading skills
Cause attention span problems
Make violence look normal
Expose children and teens to sex, alcohol, tobacco and drug use, and other risky behaviors

Screen use tips

Delaying screen use for young children is most supportive for their development. If you introduce media to your toddler, choose high-quality apps your child can interact with and use them with your child.
For preschoolers, choose high-quality media and view or play it with your child when possible. Avoid fast-paced programs and apps. Slower-paced content used along with an adult might help children learn.
Involve older kids in setting guidelines for choosing shows, games, apps and other media. Use guides and ratings to help you, but beware of claims that a program is educational. Oftentimes, there is no evidence to back such claims.
Use the social media apps your child or teen uses, and follow or friend them.
Keep all screens away during meals.
Avoid using screens 1 hour before bedtime and keep mobile devices out of your child’s bedroom at night. An alarm clock can replace their phone.
Keep TVs, tablets and computers out of children’s bedrooms. Keep them in a central place instead.
Set certain blocks of time or days as media-free, and plan other fun things to do. Remember that talking, playing, singing and reading help young brains grow. Allow plenty of time for active play, sleep, interacting with peers, homework and time with family.
Avoid using screen entertainment as a reward or as a way to calm or soothe a child.
Turn the screen off when a chosen program is over, before the next episode starts. Record shows to watch later, and skip the ads.
Watch or use media with your child. Talk about what you see and how problems can be solved without violence.
Use a kitchen timer or app to set limits on screen time.
Listen to music, books on tape or podcasts instead of looking at a screen.
Be a good role model and limit your own screen use. If your child is watching you use a screen to do things like pay bills, make a grocery list or schedule their activities, let them know that’s what you’re doing.
If your family is trying to cut back on screen time, take small steps and make it clear to your child that it’s not a punishment.
Teach children the purpose of advertising. Talk about unrealistic messages in ads.
Use parental control settings.
Use a filter to block sites you don’t want your child to see. However, these aren’t foolproof – you still need to supervise.
Explain that people your child may meet online are not always who they say they are. Tell your child that what they read may not be true and what they write or send may not be private.

Teach children to:

Never use a credit card or give out personal information unless you say it’s OK. This includes name, home address, phone number, age, race, family income, school name or address or friends’ names.
Never share their password, even with friends.
Log out of social networking sites when away from the computer or device.
Never meet face to face with someone they “meet” online, unless a parent goes with them to a public place.
Tell a parent or another adult if they get messages that make them feel uncomfortable. Never answer those messages.
Never use bad language or send mean messages online.
Never post or send photos that they wouldn’t want their parents or teacher to see.
Never copy information and claim it’s their own or copy software unless it is clearly marked “free.”
Know what kinds of sites you allow and why. Make sites off-limits if they are obscene, pornographic, violent, hate-filled, racist or offensive in other ways.
Never use chatbots or AI companions for emotional or mental health support. Hotlines for Youth has options for human-powered support.
Set strong privacy and security settings and understand that nothing online is ever truly private.

Screen Time and Digital Media Use

Are there media use guidelines by age?

Why should I pay attention to my child’s screen time?

Screen use tips

Teach children to:

Resources

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