How are others managing children's screen time over the summer holidays?

[CoolPearlCrab]

Summer break is yet to start, and I have a very clear idea that my kids' screen time will get out of control.
Because, most of my days are spent shouting and asking them to get their heads out of phones, YouTube, and games. Honestly it’s becoming really hard to get the kids interested in anything else. Their father sets some limits, but after he gets to work, they start fussing around and go right back to screens.
I am looking for a reliable solution that actually works for others. How are you managing screen time during summer break without fighting about it all day?
Honestly, I also just want some peace. I want my summer to pass calmly instead of spending the whole day getting exhausted dealing with them.

We don't have the TV on during the day, other than for the occasional film on a rainy Sunday afternoon. DS doesn't have an iPad not access to our phones. He's 7. He reads a lot, loves being in the garden, Lego, crafts etc. We're also out a lot , library, park, beach, running errands, swimming, national trust , theatre, bigger day trips etc and I wouldn't be working while caring for him. He will do 5 days of holiday camp spread over the six weeks which means he still gets to spend a day playing with friends, we're on holiday for just over 2 weeks, I have every Monday off and DH every Friday (compressed hours) , and there will be a few days with grandparents. Screens are not necessary.

What worked for me at those ages was a very strict start time, and a looser finish time.

For us it was 5pm, and there was absolutely no question of starting earlier. They had some jobs that had to be done before they could start which they typically rushed through at 4.55.

It suited me because we got to do other stuff earlier in the day, and it wasn’t competing with screens. I got a break every evening. We finished up around 7 ish, and had dinner.

Mine weren’t interacting online with school friends until they were teens so it was easier to be consistent and set a schedule that worked for me, me, me.

I really like Kendra of the genius podcast www.thelazygeniuscollective.com/lazy/kidscreens for help in thinking through stuff like this.

I used to take mine out when they were little, engage with them and do an activity. If the weather was rubbish then board games at home. If you don’t engage with them then they will default to screens.

As for they don’t listen - this is the problem, they need to respect you and listen. Be consistent.

I still turn off gaming sometimes and mine are teens and mostly monitor their own screen time. But they have exams and if they’re not revising then I’ll still turn the gaming off, they never moan as they know what they should be doing.

Too many people are scared to parent, by that I mean enforce rules. You don’t need to be nasty or harsh. I’ve rarely raised my voice and never hit my children, just communication and consistency and firm boundaries.

We have digital screen time limits on all devices. So they know that when they have ‘spent’ it, it’s gone. I don’t have to be the police.

There are also start and finish times set for their devices.

I don’t know what the answer is because I don’t have kids that age and the thought of it already terrifies me but just wanted to say that as a journalist regularly covering inquests where teens have taken their lives screen time comes up again and again and again. Please do not think this isn’t a really serious problem, because it is and I think even the government is underestimating the scale of the problem. If it is repeatedly mentioned in the hearings I’m at imagine how much depression and anxiety it’s also causing. It has made me really think about how I am going to manage this issue (I have a 4yo)

Ours would have been on screens all the time given the chance.
We did
Absolutely no screens on actual holiday. Still do this in their late teens.
First week of holidays no screens as well just to reset them.
A maximum of an hour a day, unless watching a film together then the length of the film. Worked well. We set a parental timer on their phone to stop any asking.
They played so much better the less screens they had.

With the exception of the 11yo's phone, where I might be less strict if they were contacting friends/keeping up their social life etc., I'd gather up all the screens in the house the night before and put them in a box somewhere to come down late afternoon or at whatever point you're not fussed about enforcing strict limits for the rest of the day. So from 6pm or whatever works for your family. If they don't have them, they can't use them and you don't have to be constantly getting at them about stuff.

With the 11yo, I'd probably let them check messages in the morning and periodically throughout the day, but leave the phone at home while you're out doing stuff.