Guidelines for screen use to protect mental health
It’s not just kids who suffer from poorly managed screen time. Adults are at-risk for negative impacts on mental health as well. As adults, we need not only understand how screen time impacts our mental health, we also have a responsibility to model appropriate use and create healthy norms around screen use for our children and teens.
If it’s family meal time, does everyone have their phone out? How do you feel after scrolling through headlines such as “Disastrous News?” Would you be surprised to hear that conflicts between parents and children over screen time have been one of the primary reasons people have shown up in my counseling office for over a decade, triggering physical fights, property destruction, and suicide gestures?
On May 19, 2026, Health and Human Services (HHS) published a review of the Surgeon General’s warning on the harms of screen use. The report states that screen use in childhood leads to developmental and cognitive risks, as well as poorer language outcomes. “Excessive screen time is linked to poor educational and health outcomes.” Especially related to social media use, teens also face additional mental health and behavioral concerns. Potential disruption of healthy and needed sleep patterns are also at risk with screen use across the age span. Screen time interventions show promise in managing these ill effects.
HHS and the Surgeon General recommend the 5 D’s for healthy screen management:
Discuss– Talk about what is being viewed, who they interact with, how it makes them feel. Set expectations about healthy screen use. Here is a template for a Family Media Agreement. https://intensivecareforyou.com/digital-diet-for-children-and-teens/Inappropriate content exposure can be traumatizing and create unhealthy sexual patterns and interests.
Do– Model screen use behaviors you would like to see.
Delay– Delay screen use from an early age as long as possible.
Divert– Provide healthy alternate ways to spend free time. https://intensivecareforyou.com/menu-of-offline-at-home-activities-for-kids/
Disconnect- Eliminate devices or platforms when they become a problem. Create screen-free time in everyone’s day such as dinnertime and before bed.
https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/reports-and-publications/screen-use-harms/index.html
More information about the problems with unhealthy screen use patterns:
Make sure your kids understand certain content in digital communications can trigger a Behavioral Threat Assessment and suspension from school. Any references to harming self or others even if sent as a joke can trigger this consequence. There are patterns of disturbing, sexual, and violent content in social media and digital consumption. These patterns can put unwanted thoughts in the mind and result in the wrong words coming from the mouth or fingertips.
https://txssc.txstate.edu/events/sbta-trainings
To your health! Guidelines for screen use to protect mental health,
Brad Mason
Licensed Specialist in School Psychology
Licensed Psychological Associate
Licensed Professional Counselor
512-636-6250
