Screen time is one of parents' biggest concerns. Organizations such as the WHO and the American Academy of Pediatrics offer age-based guidelines that serve as a reference. This guide summarizes them and gives you tools to apply them.
The reference guidelines suggest: before age 2, avoid screens except for family video calls; from 2 to 5, no more than one hour a day of quality content accompanied by an adult; from 6 to 12, consistent limits that do not displace sleep, exercise or schoolwork; and in adolescence, flexible agreements focused on balance rather than an exact number of hours.
An hour spent creating or learning is not the same as an hour of endless video scrolling. Specialists agree that the type of content and the context (alone or accompanied, during the day or stealing sleep hours) weigh as much as the total minutes. Prioritize age-appropriate content and share screen time with your children whenever you can.
Intense irritability when the device is taken away, loss of interest in other activities, sleep problems, declining school performance and hidden use are signs that screen time is no longer healthy. If several appear, it is time to renegotiate the limits.
Define clear, stable rules: screen-free moments (meals, the last hour before bed), device-free zones (the bedroom at night) and agreed schedules. Lead by example with your own use and offer attractive alternatives: the goal is not to take the screen away, but to fill that time with other things.
Family Link and Android's Digital Wellbeing let you set daily per-app limits. If you also want to know what your child does during that time — which apps they use, who they talk to and what content they consume — a parental control app like CatWatchful gives you that visibility to make informed decisions.