What works for managing kids' screen time
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Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Kids are smart, and most teens can bypass parental controls if they want to.
- Think you've locked your kid out of their phone at night? They'll change the time zone to get around that.
Why it matters: Keeping kids safe digitally is important, but there's no universal rulebook.
So Axios asked Kristin Lewis — chief product officer of Aura, an online safety platform for families, and mom of two boys under 10 — for her advice on managing screen time at home.
Her top tips:
Track actual screen time — not guesses. Aura's approach is that "there is no one answer for any given kid," but what is important is "the tone of their activity, the type of activity," and how it's affecting their sleep.
- It's incredibly easy for hours of screen time to slip past — Lewis knows from experience. She banned screens at her house on weekdays only to then realize her boys were waking up early on Saturday to binge shows and games. Her oldest thought he was only spending an hour on screens when he was actually spending six.
Have intentional conversations. This is where you lay out the basics — screen limits, expectations and the real risks kids face online.
- Set boundaries. Most children and teens want to spend less time on the internet and social media, she's found.
- Explain online scams. Remind children why they should never share personal, identifiable information in chats, even with a friend online.
- Review privacy settings. Look at what's public-facing on your child's profile and what apps they are allowed to access. Make sure games and social platforms aren't using the camera, microphone or personal data they don't really need.
Create a safety contract. Think about:
- How much time should be spent on social media?
- Whom do we talk to online?
- What are the rules about downloading new apps?
- Rules must be clear "because if they run into rules or restrictions or limitations that you didn't consciously communicate to them, they're going to immediately try to evade those rules."
