I Thought Parents Could Solve Their Kids’ Screen Time Troubles. I Was Wrong.

Before I spent 13 weeks interviewing experts about children and screens, I was convinced the rules existed.

Someone had them. Some brilliant researcher, psychologist, educator or parenting expert had cracked the code and could tell me exactly how much screen time was acceptable for an 11-year-old with ADHD and anxiety.

I wanted a number. I wanted a schedule. I wanted someone with several impressive letters after their name to say: Let him have this many minutes. Turn it off at this exact time. Allow these activities. Block these apps. Follow these steps and his attention, sleep, mental health and development will all be fine. Your child will develop a healthy relationship with technology and never scream, “BUT I WASN’T DONE!” when the timer goes off.

Instead, after 13 weeks of conversations with internationally recognised experts, I had accumulated a notebook full of nuance, a phone full of additional research and approximately 700 new questions.

The 13 weeks of interviews were both a professional project and a very personal attempt to understand how I could protect and guide my own son. I am a neurodivergent single mother raising an 11-year-old son with ...