
In a way this is a daft question because, as most parents know, stopping a teenager from using a screen even for a short family meal, can be a difficult task
But there is often still a worry that all that screentime can’t be good for them
Every so often there are headlines about another research study that has found a link between screen use and poor mental health.
So what does the research actually say?
It turns out that there is probably a “Goldilocks” rule about the effects of screen use on wellbeing. Too much is linked to poorer wellbeing, but a little can be good for us
Here’s a graph from a recent study by Andrew Przybylski and Netta Weinstein:

The upwards scale is a measure of wellbeing, and along the bottom are hours per day on smartphones specifically. There is a separate line for weekdays and weekends
What you can see is that an hour or two a day (and more on weekends) goes with an increase (or no decrease) in wellbeing. More than that and it starts to dip
It’s not clear the smartphones are causing the dip. It may be that youngsters use smartphones more when they are already feeling bad
The takeaway
But it does mean that mostly we don’t have to worry. Moderate use might even be good for teens as it enables them to connect with friends, discover the world and watch those apparently funny tiktoks
I’ll be doing more posts on other age groups and what the effects are – also how to have the conversation with children about reducing use. Please do subscribe for more posts if you wish!