Managing Screen Time

Kids and teens are on screens more than ever before, connecting to friends both near and far via social media and video games. The recent Common Sense Media report “Social Media, Social Life: Teens Reveal Their Experiences” found that social media use among teens has increased dramatically since 2012. A total of 81% of teens use social media, roughly the same as “ever” used it in 2012. But it is the frequency of social media use that has changed most dramatically. The proportion of teens who use social media multiple times a day has doubled over the past six years: In 2012, 34% of teens used social media more than once a day; today, 70% do. In fact, 38% of teens today say they use social media multiple times an hour, including 16% who say they use it “almost constantly.”

The increasing frequency of social media use may be fueled in part by the dramatic increase in access to mobile devices: The proportion of teens with a smartphone has more than doubled since 2012, from 41% up to 89%. Even among 13- to 14-year-olds, 84% now have a smartphone, and 93% have some type of mobile device such as a tablet.

I recently tallied all of the electronic devices in our home:: Two laptops, two desktop computers, four iPods, two tablets and two e-readers. What we don’t have—even with two high school daughters—are smartphones, a choice we made based on need (we don’t) and to help curb our screen time (all but one of these devices need a WiFi connection). Our high schoolers have iPods that allow them to access school stuff at school, text with friends, etc., but it doesn’t let them carry around that access in their pocket everywhere they go.

No matter how many devices you have, we need to have a plan to limit screen time, otherwise everyone will likely be online way too much. But the plan should be easy-to-implement and enforce.

In our house, we’ve relied on a simple plan:

• No devices at dinner
• No devices in bedrooms
• Devices turned off at least an hour before bed
• Devices parked in living room overnight
• Device usage based on time of day, rather than amount of time.

For device usage, we post the times each of our four kids can be on a device. For example, the two high schoolers may be online from 3:30 p.m. (the time they get home from school) until 5 p.m. each day, then on from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. This allows them to fit in homework and YouTube shows.

Why does this work for us? Because it’s easy for me to enforce with a check on the clock. Because my kids know that violations will result in restricted access. Because I’m more of a paper-and-pen kind of organizer. And because I personally find it easy to stop checking social media, log off and shut down my access to the online world.

The good news is that there are other options, including Circle with Disney, which operates like a “hub” in your house that connects all of your WiFi enabled devices and allows you to control what access and how much access for each one. I recently had the chance to test Circle in my own home. (Full disclosure: The company sent me a free product to sample in exchange for an honest blog post about the device.)

Circle has some neat features, like the ability to limit either by time of day (such as during dinner) or length of time (such as two hours per day for YouTube access). You can also set specific filters for each family member’s device and block specific social media and other sites.

However you choose to manage you and your family’s screen time—whether through apps and devices like Circle with Disney or with a printed schedule—it’s important to revisit the system from time to time to make sure it’s still working well. As long as you’re thoughtful about the limitations and strive to ensure they will be beneficial to all involved, screen time management shouldn’t cause stress or arguments in your home.

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