ARTICLE

5 ways to help
your kids

When it comes to the difficult task of parenting our kids (and ourselves) on healthy phone habits, Heads Up Utah doesn’t have all the answers. But this is what we know for sure, after nearly two decades of recent research.

1. Set clear device boundaries. Parents should establish rules about which apps kids can use, when they can use them, and how much time they can spend on them each day.

2. Make meals and bedtime phone-free. Keeping phones out of bedrooms can support sleep and is associated with less problematic social-media use. Screen-free meals can also strengthen family relationships and reduce risks associated with distracted or unhealthy eating.

3. Create a family-wide media plan—and follow it. The article emphasizes that parents should model the behavior they expect from their children. Parents’ own device habits can influence their children’s social-media use.

4. Be curious, not furious. Rather than immediately criticizing what kids are doing online, ask open-ended questions and take an interest in their digital lives. Sharing things online with them or occasionally joining their games can build trust and make it easier for them to seek help when something goes wrong.

5. Start conversations early. Regularly discuss cyberbullying, scams, privacy, images, and other online risks as early as elementary school, ideally before they become a problem. As children grow, the goal is to gradually replace strict controls with knowledge, sound judgment, and trust.

Parental involvement works best as a combination of boundaries, role-modeling, and an ongoing, nonjudgmental relationship with kids about what they’re doing online. The good news is parental controls work. In fact, research shows that involved parents experience significantly less problematic phone use among their children when compared to an “anything goes” approach.