School’s out, so are phones. Tips for navigating summer screen time

Sun Valley middle schooler Natalie is one of about 90,000 students signed up for summer classes in Los Angeles Unified — though it wasn’t her idea.

“The main reason I put her in summer school is because I needed her to be away from the phone,” said her mom, Norma Chávez. “I thought it was better for her to socialize and review stuff instead of just sitting down on the phone.”

For other families in the same boat, we went to pediatrician, University of California San Francisco professor, and adolescent screen time researcher Jason Nagata for some tips on how to manage screen time this summer.

“Screen use and social media is not inherently bad or good,” Nagata said. “I think the goal of parents and teens alike is probably to optimize the goods while minimizing the risks.”

Make a family media plan

Summer break forces families to change their routine and this creates an opportunity to reset the rules in your household, Nagata said.

 ”There's not a one-size-fits-all solution for every family or every teenager,” Nagata said, but there are some best practices.

Rather than setting an hourly limit, Nagata suggests starting with the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Family Media Plan (also available in Spanish). The interactive website offers advice for how to moderate your family’s technology use based on age and priorities such as less screen time, communicating, using media together, and digital privacy and safety.

Nagata also suggested talking about your household’s media plan with the families of your child’s friends.

“ If all of their friends have the same rules for them, then they're not missing out,” Nagata said. “So it's much easier for them to adhere to the rules.”

Be a role model

Nagata works on a study tracking screen time and mental health of more than 10,000 adolescents over the course of 10 years.

Among the initial findings is that one of the biggest predictors of child screen use is their parents’ screen use.

“So if you make rules about no texting at the dinner table, it's really important that parents need to follow those rules too,” Nagata said. “Otherwise, it's unlikely that their kids will follow the rules.”

Nagata's children, ages 3 and 6 months, don’t have phones yet, but still play a part in his family’s media plan.

“We have them be the enforcers of the media plan,” Nagata said. “So when I am on my phone at the dinner table, they get to enforce that on me and they really enjoy that.”

Set specific screen-free times

Nagata said two key times to limit the harm of screen time are:

Before bedtime

Another finding of his research is that near-bedtime screen use is associated with less and worse-quality sleep. A recent study that found  70% of preteens had a phone or internet device in their bedroom, and that a quarter of them were woken up in the past week due to notifications from those devices overnight.

Sleep is a key factor in a child's development, mental health and learning. A group of doctors who study sleep created a handy bedtime calculator.

Nagata said the best practice is to keep your child’s phone or tablet outside of their bedroom or turned off.

At meals

When children are eating while in front of a screen, Nagata’s research shows they’re more likely to overeat.

This is also true of time spent in front of the TV, but the study found a higher risk of binge-eating associated with social media use.

Cutting screens from mealtimes also creates another opportunity to engage with your child.

“Being actually present at the dinner table and being able to talk as a family and just check in on the day, that also can be really valuable,” Nagata said.

Listen • 46:11

Listen • 46:11

Did the cellphone ban in high schools work?

On February 18th, 2025, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest public school district in the country, implemented an all-day cell phone ban for its students. Now that it’s the end of the school year, we head to Venice High School to see how the ban actually went.

Own your screen time

So this all sounds like a good idea, but what happens when real life calls, texts or sends push notifications?

“There are some times when we need to use screens for work or for essential functions or communication,” Nagata said. “We don't have to feel guilty about that.”

For example, Nagata sometimes checks his phone during those screen-free times when he’s on call.

“ If I break the rules…I do think that it's important to explain why,” Nagata said.

Get outside

Natalie, the Sun Valley middle schooler, said she’s on her phone “mostly all the time.” She watches Netflix and TikTok, where she watches a category of videos called Mukbang or “eating broadcast” in Korean. She likes the “ the satisfying noise they make when they like crunch on the food.”

But Natalie said she sometimes feels dizzy while looking at her phone.

“ Looking at a little tiny screen sometimes hurts my vision,” she said.

When that happens, she goes outside to play with her dogs — Chavela, the husky mix, Hazel the pitbull and Estrella, the Chihuahua.

Her mom, Norma, is trying to make these out-of-house, off-the-phone activities more routine. For example, next year she’s signed up for the Los Angeles Police Department’s cadet program.

“Letting her make the decisions herself like, ‘Oh mom, I want you to take me to swimming classes over the summer’ — it's not happening anymore,” Chávez said. “So I have to make the decisions for her.”

Watch for signs of addictive screen time

Nagata said there’s no formal diagnosis of screen time addiction, but researchers are starting to identify factors associated with problematic use.

Some examples include: :

• Losing track of how much time they use their devices.
• Interrupting daily life to use their devices.
• Using their device to forget their problems.
• Trying — and failing — to stop using their devices.
• A loss of interest in activities they previously enjoyed.
• Becoming upset or stressed out if not allowed to use their devices.
• Using their devices so much it causes a negative impact on school work.

“ Those are all red flags for screen addictions in which parents may try to impose more rules or limits,” Nagata said.

A recent study found addictive behaviors, not just screen time generally, is linked to a higher risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in kids.

Notice when technology benefits your child

Not all screen time is necessarily bad. Adolescents can benefit from digital technology, including when it helps them learn, connect with their peers and family, or regulate overwhelming feelings.

“If your teenager is using social media to connect with others in ways that they're feeling like they're strengthening their friendships, that’s OK,” Nagata said.