Healthy Screen Time Limits

Setting screen time limits doesn't aim to eliminate device use, but to keep it from displacing sleep, physical activity and in-person relationships. There's no magic number of hours valid for every age; what matters is observing whether use interferes with other areas of the child's life, such as school performance or general mood. It works better to set limits through conversation rather than imposing them, with clear agreements on schedules (for example, no screens before bed or during meals) and consequences known in advance if they aren't respected. Adults themselves must model these habits: it's hard to ask a teenager to put down their phone at the table if the rest of the family doesn't do the same.