August Bank Holiday: 9 tips for managing your child's screen time - before they return to school

• The start of the new school year is only about a week away for many children
• Their screen time will likely have crept up over the six-week summer holidays
• An NHS trust for a leading children’s hospital says parents can help them cut back by leading by example, setting boundaries, and fostering healthy habits

Most parents are generally aware that too much screen time isn’t good for their child. But over the school holidays, it’s all too easy for the hours spent glued to a phone, TV, or tablet to creep up.

Monday (August 25) is the summer bank holiday across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, when parents will get an extra day off work to spend with their children before they head back to school. The summer holidays themselves are also drawing to a close, with the new, 2025/26 school year set to begin around September 1 for many of England’s young learners.

In all likelihood, many children will have been using their devices a lot more than they usually would over the last few weeks without school. Over the long run, it’s not great for them.

A report from last year by Parliament’s Education Committee found that young people’s screen time shot up a whopping 52% increase between 2020 and 2022, and one in four children with a smartphone used it in a way that was consistent with behavioural addiction. Excess screen time was linked with a wide range of issues too, from losing sleep, to being exposed to harmful material online, to distracting children in the classroom.

But managing and starting to cut back screen time that has been allowed to build up unchecked can be tricky. Luckily, in its guidance for parents the Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust has shared some of its top tips for starting to shave back your child’s screen time. Here’s a few you can make a start on this long weekend and in the days to come, before the new school year begins:

Strategies for reducing screen time

The Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust says that too much screen time can disrupt a young person’s body clock, affecting melatonin and spiking dopamine - which isn’t conducive to early nights before getting up for school, let alone doing any learning once they get there. Parents can help to break the hypnotic hold devices have over them by asking questions about what’s on screen, creating a dialogue that lets them step back into the real world.

But for cutting back on the time spent on screens overall, more proactive management techniques are often needed. Here are a few it recommends:

1. Get out and about: Encourage your child to spend some time in the garden or take a short walk – anything that will let them get some fresh air and make them take a short break
2. Digital detox: Lead by example and challenge the whole family to spend the upcoming bank holiday doing something that doesn’t involve the devices
3. Agree on some tech-free zones: Whether it be bed or the dinner table, setting some boundaries can help build screen-free time into the daily routine – and it could have other benefits too
4. Create a device timetable: Work with your child to set times when it’s okay to use devices, and when it’s not. Help guide them to prioritise things like class time, and quality family time
5. Be mindful of the time: Keep track of how long your child uses their devices, and especially how long they’re spending on potentially stressful parts of the internet like social media
6. Start doing overnight charges: Set up a place where everyone’s phones will go at night time to charge. This will make it less tempting to scroll late at night and first thing in the morning
7. Use ‘do not disturb’ mode: When taking family tech breaks, like playing board games, going for walks or having a chat, make sure you’re not getting any distracting notifications that demand your attention. Your children may just end up following the example you set
8. Socialise without screens: Don’t automatically involve phones, TV or other tech when planning playdates or hang-outs for your child and their friends over the last few days without school. Try thinking of some screen-free activities they can do together
9. Foster a good wind-down routine: Try reading to your child as they get comfortable in bed. Building up these screen-free habits can help them to sleep better, and avoid getting sucked into scrolling

Worried about how much time your child is spending on their phone? Here are the warning signs to look out for that suggest screen time might be getting out of hand. Or if you’d like to see just how much screen time is recommended for every age, check out this story.