Enrichment · Wellbeing

Talk about screens
with real numbers.

Screen-time arguments go better with the phone’s own report on the table and a question about how each app feels. Put in the hours and the bedtime, list what the time goes to, and agree a plan the adults follow too.

Make a planWhat you get

Your family plans

The worked example is made up: a 12-year-old with 32 hours a week and screens off fifteen minutes before bed, and a 4-year-old. Saved on this device only.

Loading the plan form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Enrichment · WellbeingFree

What you finish with
A record per child: age, main device, school-day and weekend hours, bedtime and screens-off time, each app or use with how it leaves them feeling, seven family plan items and what was agreed. Works out hours a week and a day and minutes between screens off and bed; flags under an hour before bed, AAP guidance for children under six, social media under 13, apps that leave them feeling worse and adults not following the plan.
Who it is for
Parents and caregivers, and the children and teens they are making a plan with.
Format
Browser plan with a saved record per child. Prints the plan to put on the fridge, every child in a table or a blank sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Wellbeing space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Open the device’s screen time report together.
  2. Enter the hours and bedtime.
  3. List the apps and ask how each one leaves them feeling.
  4. Agree the plan items and write them down.
  5. Check in again in a few weeks.

Make a plan

Guidance by age

Guidance by ageAgeSuggestedMost helpfulUnder 18 monthsVideo calls onlyfaces, play, talk18 to 24 monthsA little, togetherhigh quality, co-viewed2 to 5 yearsAbout 1 hour a daywatch and talk together6 to 12 yearsA family plansleep, activity, homework firstTeensA plan they help writeprivacy, sleep, how it feelsGuidance by ageUnder 18 monthsSuggested: Video calls onlyMost helpful: faces, play, talk18 to 24 monthsSuggested: A little, togetherMost helpful: high quality, co-viewed2 to 5 yearsSuggested: About 1 hour a dayMost helpful: watch and talk together6 to 12 yearsSuggested: A family planMost helpful: sleep, activity, homework firstTeensSuggested: A plan they help writeMost helpful: privacy, sleep, how it feels
From the American Academy of Pediatrics. For older children the AAP stresses what and when over a single number of hours.

Not all screen time is the same

Video-chatting with a grandparent, making music and doing homework are different from scrolling late at night. Asking how an app leaves them feeling turns a fight about minutes into a conversation about what is good for them.

Sleep comes first

Screens in the hour before bed and devices in the bedroom overnight are linked with later and shorter sleep in children and teens. Charging devices outside bedrooms is one of the simplest rules with the biggest payoff.

Sources

  1. American Academy of Pediatrics. (2016). Media and young minds. Pediatrics, 138(5); and the Family Media Plan (healthychildren.org).
  2. American Academy of Pediatrics Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health (aap.org).
  3. U.S. Surgeon General. (2023). Social Media and Youth Mental Health advisory (hhs.gov).
  4. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, 16 CFR Part 312: the under-13 rule most apps follow (ftc.gov).

The worked examples are made up. Guidance is general; your pediatrician knows your child. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.