Smartphone Smart

Healthy limits can help teens save time for homework, hobbies and sleep.

• Talk with your teen about the importance of setting limits to protect their health, and to leave time for offline activities.
• Automated tools can help. iPhone allows automated screen time limits and downtime settings, and Android allows you to manage screen time, if needed.
• Putting phones “to bed” at night in a shared family space outside your teen’s bedroom can help protect their sleep.

Restrictions to certain apps and content can help keep your teen safe online.

• Apple helps you block content and unknown contacts to help keep your teen safe.
• Android lets you block certain apps and prevent unknown contacts from connecting with your teen.

Recent research published by the American Academy of Pediatrics adds to the growing body of evidence for holding off on smartphones until age 13 or later. The national study found that children at age 12 with smartphones were significantly more likely to experience obesity, depression, and insufficient sleep, compared to their peers without smartphones. They also found that the younger a child is when they get a smartphone, the greater these risks become. Even among children who didn’t have a smartphone at 12, those who got one over the next year were significantly more likely, by age 13, to report serious mental health and sleep problems than peers who still didn’t have one. Notably, these shifts appeared within a single year, even after accounting for how children were doing before they got a phone.

Our Foundation is committed to creating a community where youth can thrive, and we believe digital wellness is integral to achieving that goal. As we continue this work, we will ground our efforts in both thorough research and the unique needs of East Texas.