Screen Time

After years of working with families navigating screen use, these are the practical things that consistently make the most difference. None of them require declaring war on devices. They work because they shape the rhythm rather than fight the technology.

• Devices out of bedrooms at night. The single biggest, most evidence-supported, most-often-skipped intervention. Charge devices in the kitchen overnight, including yours. Modelling matters as much as policy.
• Screens off 45 to 60 minutes before bed. The brain needs to come down before it can sleep. Use the time for reading, bath, conversation. The transition is the point.
• Watch with your child where you can. Co-watching turns passive consumption into shared experience. It gives you the conversational space for what they have seen, and it builds the muscle of talking about content.
• Plan the after-screens transition deliberately. Don’t go from game to homework, or from video to bed. A snack, a walk, a few minutes of quiet conversation. The landing matters as much as the screen time itself.
• Pay attention to content type more than minute count. A slow nature programme is fine in the evening. A fast-paced game is not. Arousal level matters more than duration. This is the most underused parental judgement.
• Hold one screen-free meal a day. Family meals without devices (yours and theirs). Even one a day. The presence of the family without distraction is small, undramatic, and quietly important.
• Stay in the conversation about what they see online. Casually. Repeatedly. The child who knows you will not panic is the child who will tell you when they see something difficult. This single relationship is worth more than any filter.