setting healthy boundaries for screen time
encourage your kids to use social media in a healthy way
It’s probably no surprise that screen time and social media usage are going up (by more than a hour PER DAY in the past two years, according to a study by JAMA Pediatrics). But how can that impact children’s mental health?
Social media is like a lot of activities –it has benefits and risks. You can help children by starting conversations around social media, helping them navigate it and educate them on how to stay safe online with our resources.
how much social media is healthy?
Social media, which includes traditional platforms like Facebook and Instagram and video-based platforms like YouTube and TikTok, can have benefits if it’s used correctly and with healthy boundaries. While each child is different, in general, these are the amounts of screen time that’s healthiest for each age group:
Once you determine the amount of social media time that’s healthiest for your child, consider deciding on healthy boundaries. Health boundaries around social media can improve mental health by:
- Encouraging kids to have more meaningful relationships
- Teaching kids to have self-discipline and set boundaries for themselves
- Avoiding overdependence on technology that leads to anxiety or depression
- Creating more meaningful family bonds and memories
how to set healthy boundaries for social media
As an adult, it’s important that you model healthy boundaries around social media yourself to your children. Monitor your own phone use and habits to see if you’re:
- Telling your kids to turn the screens off while scrolling through your own phone
- Feeling anxious or distressed when you are away from your phone
- Using technology to avoid other obligations
- Checking work emails when you are “off the clock” instead of spending time with family
Put some healthy boundaries into place for yourself. Creating a social media plan with your family can also help. You can download the plan in Spanish as well.
Now that you’re ready to set healthy boundaries for screen time with your whole family try some of these tips:
- Set up a charging station in a common area to leave your devices at night. This might mean you’ll need an old-fashioned alarm clock in the bedrooms to wake you up instead, but those phones will no longer be a late-night distraction!
- Designate the dinner table a “no technology zone.” No devices will be invited to share a meal with your family. In the meantime, you can use our conversation starters to learn more about each other.
- Pick important times of the day, like when you first get home from school, to put the phones away! Catch up with your kids about what they learned during the day or how they felt at different points of the day.
phone-free activities for the family
Now you’ve set your healthy boundaries and are left with free time with the whole family. How can you fill up these moments to keep everyone for itching for their phones? Read through the list below to get some inspiration!
- Have an indoor picnic on the living room floor! Don’t forget, no phones allowed!
- Take a walk around the neighborhood! Enjoy the fresh air and make new discoveries as a family.
- Read a book as a family! Encourage your child to read a few pages themselves to improve literacy.
- Get competitive with a family board game night! Last place does the dishes?
join the On Our Sleeves community
The mission of On Our Sleeves is to provide every community in America access to free, evidence-informed educational resources necessary for breaking stigmas about child mental health and educating families and advocates. For more information, visit OnOurSleeves.org.
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