Shifting priorities in managing children's screen time as schools prepare for targeted policies

As students return to classrooms, experts advocate for a balanced approach to device use, emphasising routines, quality engagement, and understanding the complex effects of screens on health and learning, amid evolving educational policies across the US.

As pupils return to classrooms, the debate over children’s screens is shifting from blunt bans at home to a more deliberate reset, with doctors, public health advisers and education officials all arguing that the question is not simply how long children spend on devices, but what that use is doing to sleep, learning and family life. The change in tone comes as Maryland schools prepare for tighter rules on pupils’ phones and, nationally, the US Department of Education has issued fresh guidance urging schools to judge technology by its instructional value rather than its novelty.

For families, the clearest message is to start before the first bell. Dr Sarah Edwards, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the University of Maryland Golisano Children’s Hospital, told CBS Baltimore: “It is so important to start the conversation.” Rather than snapping back to term-time rules overnight, she said parents should begin talking “a few weeks in advance” and treat the return to school as a gradual rebuilding of routines. Jeff Temple, a psychologist at UTHealth Houston, made the same point in a July back-to-school explainer, arguing that children respond better to consistent expectations than to sudden restrictions, especially when parents are following the same rules themselves.

There is some evidence that this approach can work. CBS Baltimore cited a 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity which found that parent-focused interventions cut young children’s screen use by an average of 38 minutes a day across six studies involving 1,106 children. That finding sits neatly with advice from the National Institutes of Health, which says modelling is one of the most effective tools available to adults: if parents want children to treat phones less as a default companion, they have to show what that looks like in practice.

That means turning ordinary moments into device-free ones. NIH guidance recommends putting screens away during mealtimes and family gatherings, while Scripps Health says it is “extremely helpful” to make electronics off limits at fixed points in the day, including meals. The same advice extends to the home itself. NIH suggests keeping devices out of rooms such as bedrooms and kitchens, and Scripps says screens should ideally be switched off one to two hours before bedtime because the light from them can harm sleep quality. Those routines matter because the aim is not punishment; it is to protect time for conversation, rest and the ordinary social contact that screens can easily crowd out.

Experts are also drawing a sharper distinction between recreational scrolling and purposeful use. In guidance released on 20 August 2026, the US Department of Education said “Cell phones and algorithm-driven social media distract students from learning and undermine the focused classroom environments they need to succeed,” while also stressing that other digital tools can widen access to advanced courses, support pupils with disabilities and help close learning gaps when used well. Temple argues that for school-age children and teenagers, the focus should move away from a single magic number and towards whether screens are displacing sleep, physical activity, schoolwork, family time and in-person relationships. Scripps, citing the American Academy of Pediatrics, similarly says quality and context now matter more than rigid daily caps.

Age still matters, though. Temple says children younger than 18 months should avoid screens apart from video calls, while those aged 2 to 5 should be limited to about an hour a day of high-quality programming with an adult where possible. He also points to a broader backdrop that helps explain why families may find the school reset difficult: a recent UTHealth Houston report found that 90% of Texas school-age children and adolescents spend at least two hours a day on screens outside school, while 18.4% of second-grade pupils were spending more than four hours a day on recreational screen use.

The health picture is also more complicated than many slogans suggest. Temple says excessive screen use has been linked to poorer sleep, less physical activity, attention difficulties, anxiety and depression, but he cautions that the research mostly shows associations rather than clear cause and effect. In some cases, he notes, children who are already anxious, depressed or struggling to sleep may simply use screens more. Scripps adds that adolescents face their own set of pressures online, including cyberbullying, misinformation, unrealistic body-image standards and the sense that they must always be available. At the same time, both Temple and Scripps say technology can offer real benefits, from educational support to creative outlets and maintaining social bonds.

That balance is increasingly being written into school policy. Ohio’s education department says districts, community schools and STEM schools were required to adopt policies banning student phone use during the instructional day by 1 January 2026, with the definition stretching beyond lessons to include transitions between classes, recess, meal periods and field trips. The rules can also cover smart watches and other communications devices, although exceptions must be made for disability plans, health needs, learning purposes and emergencies. In Maryland, local schools are preparing families for their own restrictions, and Anne Arundel County superintendent Mark Bedell has said schools will need to work with communities as the changes bed in. For parents, that wider crackdown may reinforce the same lesson doctors have been giving all summer: a successful reset is less about confiscation than about building a routine that children can actually live with.