If you have a child in year 10, what time do they put their phone down?

[HurryUpAndWait23]

Ahhh the annual argument.

For us, anyway.

My 14 year old can't put his phone down, therefore I have to put a screen time lock on his phone.

I'm the worst mum in the world.

I've set it to 10pm on school nights which I think is late enough!

What do others do?

I’m strict Mom and have always stopped them being onscreens after 6pm. Now the eldest two are 14 and 13 but it’s still the same; the blue light disturbs sleep and I don’t want them using phones/iPads/PS4?etc before bed. We watch tv or a movie together most nights (they have blue blocker glasses), and they go to sleep/lights out around 9.30.

I believe and have studied how important sleep is. I imagine they don’t tell their friends but neither do they rail against it. They aren’t allowed things like fortnite or GTA/COD, but are allowed to watch adult comedy like peep show, and can watch things like The Walking Dead. I only say that to show I’m not a complete Puritan!

Wowzers that is strict!

14yo dd has to bring her phone down for the night to charge at 10pm.

Also, to give her a break from it we have a rule that if your phone is on charge you can’t pick it back up again until it is fully charged. Seems to work.

Seriously? I never policed phone time. If he could be up for school then fair enough. A* a levels and Russel group chemistry degree. Do you want to make this the hill you die on?

I simply cannot imagine having the head space to make rules about picking up charging phones!

10pm here too

@siblingrevelryagain

I’m strict Mom and have always stopped them being onscreens after 6pm. Now the eldest two are 14 and 13 but it’s still the same; the blue light disturbs sleep and I don’t want them using phones/iPads/PS4?etc before bed. We watch tv or a movie together most nights (they have blue blocker glasses), and they go to sleep/lights out around 9.30.

I believe and have studied how important sleep is. I imagine they don’t tell their friends but neither do they rail against it. They aren’t allowed things like fortnite or GTA/COD, but are allowed to watch adult comedy like peep show, and can watch things like The Walking Dead. I only say that to show I’m not a complete Puritan!

Shows with people getting their heads smashed in is ok, but no talking to friends after 6pm?

My 14yr old gets 2hrs of screen time on school nights cut off at 10pm.

I fall asleep before them so no restrictions here.

7.30 and it is not allowed upstairs except when friends are round.

Mean as heck, but she has ADHD so nothing would ever happen otherwise

My DS has a phone but rarely even looks at it so no need to set any rules! Honestly, it's always out of battery or in a drawer somewhere.

He loves his pc thought so we set rules on that- off by 9pm!

In theory 8pm but usually ends up being nearer to 9. They are 12 & 14. The youngest one is worse for it though. After that we can watch something together or listen to music/read.

Around 9.30pm midweek

Youngest is 14 and just going into y10 equivalent.. I don’t police it and never have. They need to learn self regulation and natural consequences. Ie staying up late means being tired in the morning. 💤

10ish for us too

10pm here. I collect all technology to charge on the landing.

I think 10 is quite late but I think you're being a caring, responsible parent by having a time when it has to go off.

My 11&13 yr old have a screen curfew at 7.30pm and I don’t imagine it changing for a couple of years, though I’ll see how it goes. It’s nice for them to actually talk to us after that!

@MrsPsmalls

Seriously? I never policed phone time. If he could be up for school then fair enough. A* a levels and Russel group chemistry degree. Do you want to make this the hill you die on?

I am so so glad I am not a person like you.

I feel for you. X

Why do you feel for MrsPsmalls @HurryUpAndWait23 ?

I don't need to police phone time, both mine (15 & 13) are really good at self regulating, they do lots of after school activities and use their phones to wind down, they do music practice, sports clubs etc and I never have to ask them to do homework at all. If there was an inkling of them being tired, not doing homework or not doing well at school I would review things. They are usually asleep before 11pm (youngest about 10/1030) and I never have to ask them.

I think that you know your own child, if they would end up on their phone all night then make a curfew however I genuinely believe self regulation is a very important skill to be teaching also.

Oh I should have added, we also sit together and watch various box sets so they aren't necessarily on their phones all evening anyway. It's nice having that time with them as a family also, obviously I wouldn't be happy if they were just off shut away on their phones every night but if they feel they want to have space etc then that's fine as long as it's not every night.

Parental controls kick in at 2130

It locks at 9pm on a school night. Gives him a chance to wind down. He was asleep by 10pm tonight.

No phones upstairs is our rule.

My children are neurodiverse though. They don't have these epic powers of self control like the A* smug mummy children.

Most apps/social media auto close at 7 followed by messaging at 9. Phone stays with me from 9 overnight.

Most adults can’t control screen time, no way am I expecting a teenager to be able to. They are designed to be addictive!