Resources to Help with Balancing Screen Time

Screen time, how much is too much?

There is a lot of information on the web and in the news about screen time, social media, and its impact on health and well-being. As with most things, the key is to find the right balance. The American Pediatrics Association and the World Health Organization have helpful guidelines for limiting screen time for children.

You may also want to consider what your children are doing on their screen, rather than relying on the number of hours alone. Doing homework, and playing a video game with friends are different than scrolling through social media. "What You Need to Know About Kids' ScreenTime Right Now" by Anya Kamenetz (2018) provides this advice "Enjoy screens, Not too much. Mostly together." 

Common Sense Media's (CSM) article "How Much Screen Time is OK for My Kids" (2022), categorizes screen time into four main categories, passive, interactive, communication, and content creation, and stresses the importance of balancing screen time with other activities and experiences away from screens. CSM encourages families to talk about technology use and to create a family tech plan (available in English and Spanish).

Monitoring Screen time at Home

• Families can monitor and configure internet access on school-issued laptops (grades 6-12) through the Securly Home app. Visit the district website for more information.
• "How to set up and use your Wi-Fi router's parental controls," CNET covers how to set up parental control on your personal Wi-Fi. Your internet provider may also have instructions specific to your router. Instructions for parental controls through Xfinity/Comcast and Century Link.
• Common Sense Media - Parental Controls provides information on how to set up parental controls on a variety of technology from Xbox to Amazon Echo

For additional resources, please visit ISD Technology Safety