Reclaiming childhood isn’t just about removing addictive devices from children’s hands – it actually starts with the screens in parents’ hands.
While policy shifts and age restrictions are crucial steps forward in protecting young people online, it would be naive to assume screen addiction is just a youth issue. The habits children develop have largely been informed by generations above.
Children learn how to navigate the world by watching their parents – absorbing their habits, triggers and relationship with technology long before they have a phone in their own hands. If we want to change how the next generation interacts with devices, we need to look closely at the adult behaviours being modelled at home every day.
“I think it’s important for parents to understand the power and impact of role modelling,” says Nova Eden, founder of One Collective Power. “At the moment, we’re all using our devices too much. This isn’t just an issue with children… we should know better, and we should do better.”
The rise and impact of screen overload on adults
Jane Rowland, co-founder of SafeScreens, believes Covid-19 was a key turning point for adult screen addiction: “Adults were working from home more and everybody sort of adjusted to a different way of life. Children are now much more used to seeing parents on their computers, their devices… always under the guise of working, but quite frequently adults are just doom-scrolling because there’s no off switch.”
“We’ve replaced reading the newspaper with scrolling a phone,” Rowland adds. “TVs are even taking a backseat now because phones are easy, they’re in your hand… so we’re all guilty of falling down the rabbit hole sometimes.”
Alongside the knock-on effect of children mirroring their parents’ digital habits, smartphone use among adults is having another worrying impact – as Jennifer Powers, founder of Unplugged Coalition, highlights: “There aren’t enough speech and language therapists in the country to deal with the delays among [reception age] children, who aren’t being talked to at home.”
How to model better habits at home
Though experts are in agreement on the highly addictive and harmful nature of smartphones, parents shouldn’t punish themselves. Raising children in a hyper-connected world is an uphill battle against devices that are built to steal focus and attention. And with parents themselves being forced to do so much family admin online - from school apps to banking and ordering groceries – it can feel impossible to avoid screen time.
This, however, provides an opportunity for constructive action. By looking candidly at their own digital use and taking practical steps to reset household norms, parents can strip away screen overload and model the healthy, balanced relationship with tech that children deserve.
Eden outlines some small boundaries that can lead to improved digital wellness at home. “Leaving phones by the front door, not having them when eating dinner as a family, and not having them late at night or in the bedrooms…. This sort of digital wellness is so important. Once it’s implemented as a family, it becomes about family wellbeing, and we will all feel better.”
These small habits can also go a little further, as Arabella Skinner, director of Health Professionals for SaferScreens, advocates – with the added benefit of making children part of the decision. “We have family plans on our website where you can actually sit down and write a contract together. A lot of that is about the child saying ‘I really hate that when you’re giving me breakfast in the morning, you’re on your phone and we’re not talking or you’re not engaging with me.’”
If parents find themselves spending excess time on devices undertaking family admin, it can also be helpful to explain to children what’s happening. Having the rationale that you’re banking or booking school lunches can help kids understand boundaries, and the difference between constructive device use and mindless scrolling.
Reclaiming connection
Creating a healthier digital home isn’t about perfection or banning tech altogether – it’s about intentionally choosing presence over scrolling.
When parents hold themselves accountable to the same digital boundaries they set for kids, screen addiction stops being a youth problem and becomes something that can be solved as a family unit.
The battle against addictive design starts at the kitchen table. By making small, deliberate changes to daily habits, parents can reset household norms, reclaim family time, and show the next generation what healthy digital habits look like.
