Family Screen Rules That Hold Up on a Tuesday

Every household rule works on a calm Sunday. The test is a wet Tuesday when everyone is tired. Rules that survive that are simple, few, and applied to adults too.

Start with the modelling problem

Children calibrate to what you do with your phone during dinner, not to what you say about screen time. This is inconvenient and it is the single highest-leverage change available.

Three rules, not thirty

• Screens live in shared spaces, not bedrooms.
• Devices go to bed before people do, in the same place, every night.
• One screen-free block per day that includes the adults.

When the rule breaks

Repair, don't escalate. Name what happened, restate the rule, and move on. Punitive responses teach concealment, which is the outcome you least want as they get older.