Mobile phone usage / boundaries for teens
I am interested to learn how other families manage device usage for their teens? I have a 14yo and screen time is limited to 2 hours per day with a forced do not disturb curfew from 9pm - 7am. No phones in the bedroom. We have Instagram and Snapchat. I’m told I am a mean mum and other friends have phones in their room and access whenever ... of course I have no doubt this is a woe is me attempt but I am genuinely interested to hear how others manage?
5 Replies
My friend makes her teens hand them over before bed and limited access hes not on facebook or instagram but i dont know what he does except the game apps ive seen him play.
My 15yo is to have no phone or ipad or any device after 10pm ( bed is 930pm )
I remove the devices by 10. No devices before school in the mornings.
Holidays, and weekends are playstation / XBox in the mornings between 7am and 10am are allowed. No gamimg allowed after this .
However TV, movies, IPad and music are allowed .
Once the IPad charge is gone, its gone. Not permitted to recharge the IPad more than once a week.
His phone is a basic phone and is only used for texts and calls anyway. There is no APs on it.
My son has a gaming YouTube channel that he’s trying very hard to increase his watch hours and subscribers, so I don’t have restrictions on his use.
He live streams from his bedroom.
He has to get his other shit done or he gets in trouble.
He has to put phone in kitchen before bed.
It’s his passion, who I am to judge?
He works his arse off on it.
I have a 14 yo girl and 17 yo boy, they use their ipads, computer for school, but have to have it out of the bedroom for sleep from 9pm until morning, I don't want their phones to be on their room buzzing all night as iPhones don't switch off when charging. They don't love it but they respect the rules.
We tried loosening this with the 17yo but found him on devices when he should have been asleep and even he admitted that it was too much of a temptation so it was better if they were out of his room.
It's hard for them because all of their social coordination with friends is done online, so they always feel like they need to answer now.
We also go away to a farm where there is no service and they both love it because it's a digital detox.
Hope that helps a little
I have a 15 year old who has free rein. She is a mature, smart kid who I trust 100%.
Their friendship groups are online, that's how they interact when they're not together. This has been a shitty year and they have been isolated for a very long time. Restricting access to their phones would cut them out of that group and I know how much damage that would do.