Screens and Teens: Finding a Healthy Balance
In this info sheet
If managing your teen’s screen time feels like a challenge, you’re not alone!
Screens play an important role in our daily life as adult, but they can be useful for teens, too. However, excessive use can interfere with essential activities like socializing, sleeping, exercising, eating well, and personal hygiene. When screen time takes over, it can affect your teen’s health and well-being.
Rather than making them feel guilty, support your teen in developing a more balanced relationship with screens.
To better understand
What does balanced screen use mean?
A healthy approach to screens means:
- Not using them from morning to night without breaks
- Setting aside screen-free moments to make room for other daily activities
- Watching videos and chatting with friends, but also using screens to do schoolwork
During adolescence, teens are more impressionable. They also crave social validation, especially from their friends. Screens meet these needs, making them highly appealing.
While screens can be beneficial for teens, excessive use comes with risks. How much screen time is “too much”? It depends on:
- The individual teen
- How they are using screens
- The content they are viewing
Risks associated with screens include:
- Reduced physical activity and sedentary lifestyle
- Poor sleep quality
- Depression and anxiety
- Difficulty focusing and lower academic performance
- Challenges with emotional regulation
- Increased tolerance for violence and decreased empathy
- Difficulty distinguishing real from fake content
- Vision problems like myopia
- Physical discomfort (back, neck, wrist, and eye strain)
- Negative self-image
- Poor eating habits
It’s important to look at how screen use affects your teen rather than just the number of hours spent online. However, if screen time dominates their day, it’s a sign that changes may be needed.
Common myths about screens
Myth #1
Because teens born in the 2000s grew up with screens, they are naturally skilled at using them.False
Most apps and platforms are designed to be user-friendly. Simply using them often doesn’t mean teens develop advanced IT skills. Most teens have skills comparable to the general population when it comes to working on the computer.
Myth #2
Teens need extensive screen time to prepare for the digital world.False
In fact, the opposite is true: Excessive screen exposure can actually take time away from skill-building activities. A weekly computer class in high school is enough to teach essential computer skills.
Myth #3
Digital multitasking—doing several tasks at once on one or more screens—makes teens more productive.False
While teens may feel efficient when digital multitasking, switching between tasks reduces both the quality and quantity of their work. The same is true for adults! Each time you switch tasks, you need to make an effort to refocus. Digital multitasking also conditions teens to seek constant stimulation, making it harder to focus on less exciting tasks.
Myth #4
Screens provide major benefits for teens.False
The benefits of screens are often overestimated. And many perceived benefits are unfounded. For example, the best way to encourage physical activity or creativity is to reduce screen time. In most cases, screens hinder learning more than they help. For most teens, excessive screen use is linked to more risks than rewards. Aiming for reduced, reasonable screen time is the best way to support their healthy development and well-being. Screens should remain a tool that enhances their life rather than replaces reality.
- According to the Québec Health Survey of High School Students 2022-2023, one in four teens (25%) spends four or more hours per day on screens for leisure and socializing, on both weekdays and weekends. These teens tend to sleep fewer hours per night.
- According to the 2022 Québec Parenting Survey, 50% of parents of teens say managing family screen use is one of their biggest challenges.
To better support
Communication
- Maintain an open, non-judgmental dialogue with your teen about their online activities to better understand their screen use and interests.
- Discuss both the positives of screens and the potential downsides of overuse:
- Social media
- Videos
- Online games
- Other online content
- Talk about online behaviour and the importance of respect and empathy in online as well as in-person interactions.
- Talk to your teen about:
- How apps and online platforms use notifications (e.g., likes and new messages) and rewards (e.g., winning or leveling up in video games) to keep users engaged
- How fake news and misinformation spreads online because of the stronger emotional reactions (especially negative ones) it triggers
Supervision/Guidance
- Establish and enforce screen-time rules when introducing a new device. It is easier to set boundaries at the start than to change habits later. For guidance, see the PAUSE parent-teen agreement.
- Agree on family-wide rules for:
- Daily screen time limits
- Appropriate usage times and contexts
- Types of use
- Age-appropriate access to social media
- While not relying solely on these measures, you can configure computers, smart devices, and Wi-Fi networks to:
- Ask for passwords
- Limit usage time
- Apply security filters, etc.
- Take an interest in the apps your teen uses and ensure they are safe and appropriate. Include your teen in this process!
Support
- Help your teen think critically about their screen use and the content they engage with. Their online habits, such as spending too much time online or viewing inappropriate content, can have long-term effects!
- Be mindful of your own screen time as an adult. Set goals with your teen to reduce your screen time together.
- Work together to find offline activities that are engaging and fulfilling, even if less appealing. Explore why your teen is using screens: boredom, socialization, need for validation, etc. This insight can help you identify underlying needs.
- Encourage your teen to reflect on their online friendships: Who are they connecting with? How well do they know these people? What makes someone trustworthy online?
At home
- Encourage screen use in common areas of the home for easier supervision, discussion and shared viewing.
- Have screen-free family meals and encourage meaningful conversations.
- Keep screens out of bedrooms. If needed, use an alarm clock instead of a phone for waking up.
- Turn off screens at least an hour before bedtime, especially portable devices and stimulating content, including fast-scrolling feeds, texting, close-up viewing, etc. The brain needs to wind down before sleep.
- Disable the Wi-Fi overnight—no one needs it while sleeping!
- Avoid screen use—especially stimulating content—before school or homework, as it can hinder concentration.
Along with setting clear screen-time rules, it is important to maintain open and positive communication with your teen. And remember: You’re their first role model!
Resources and practical tools
For support
General resources
If you are concerned about a situation, do not hesitate to reach out to a support worker or a healthcare professional:
Specialized resources
- PAUSE, informative website
- Community addiction prevention organizations in the Montérégie region:
- Action dépendances, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
- La maison de Jonathan, Longueuil
- L’arc-en-ciel, Beloeil
- Liberté de choisir, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield
- L’inter Section, MRC d’Acton
- Maison des jeunes L’Air du Temps, Sorel-Tracy
- Satellite, Saint-Hyacinthe
- Prevention of online violence and exploitation:
- Cybertip.ca, Canada’s national tipline for reporting the online sexual exploitation of children.
- Protect Kids Online
- Addiction rehabilitation
References
Lavoie, A. et Auger, A. (2023). Être parent au Québec en 2022. Un portrait à partir de l’Enquête québécoise sur la parentalité 2022. Institut de la statistique du Québec.
Traoré, I., Simard, M. et Julien, D. (2024). Enquête québécoise sur la santé des jeunes du secondaire. Résultats de la troisième édition 2022-2023. Institut de la statistique du Québec.
This fact sheet was created in collaboration with:
The directors of the addiction prevention organizations L’Arc-en-ciel, La maison de Jonathan, Liberté de choisir and Satellite
Camille Paquet, navigator, École en santé, CISSS de la Montérégie-Est
Nancy Lo, human relations officer – school mental health promotion and prevention, Direction de santé publique de la Montérégie
Latest updates : april 2025
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