A family screen-time agreement you can print
A screen agreement that works is written with your child, not for them: when screens are used, where they are not, what happens at bedtime, and what the adults promise too. Here is the nine-clause template, a filled-in example, and what WHO and the American Academy of Pediatrics say, with their dates.
Our family screen agreement
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- Definition
- Family screen-time agreement: A page a family writes together with the child, setting when screens are used, where they are not, what is watched on them, what each person at home commits to, and a date to review it.
Start tonight with one question rather than a rule: “What do you like most on a screen, and why?” Listen to the whole answer without commenting. It is the first piece of advice on UNICEF's page on healthy digital habits at home: ask your child about their devices the way you would about any other activity. Then write the agreement together at the end of the week, in one sitting of no more than half an hour.
What the health bodies say, and when they said it
For children under five there are clear numbers. In the World Health Organization's guidelines, published on 24 April 2019, screen time is not recommended for babies under one, and sedentary screen time (watching TV or videos, playing computer games) is not recommended for one-year-olds. For two-year-olds, and for children aged 3 to 4, it should be no more than one hour — less is better. The same guidelines encourage reading and storytelling with a caregiver when a child is sitting.
After five, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) gives no single number. Its “Screen Time Guidelines” page (last updated 22 May 2025) says its guidelines do not set one screen-time limit for all children and teens, and that household rules focused on balance, content, co-viewing and communication are linked to better outcomes than rules about time alone. It warns that screens can crowd out sleep and physical activity, and suggests adding healthy routines back — a healthy bedtime routine, or time outside.
Its page “How to Make a Family Media Plan” (last updated 20 January 2026) suggests screen-free zones such as the dinner table, homework time and before bed; turning off autoplay and notifications; and a plan for every member of the family, parents included. The template below is built from these four pages.
The template: nine clauses you write together
Here is a filled-in example for a family with a nine-year-old, written for this post; the blank template is in the printable. Change everything in it to fit your home.
| Clause | What we agreed |
|---|---|
| 1. When we use screens | School days: after homework is done, for one hour. Weekends and holidays: two hours, in two blocks. |
| 2. Screen-free places and times | The dinner table, homework time, and bedrooms. |
| 3. Bedtime | Screens go off an hour before bed, and every device sleeps at the charging spot in the living room. |
| 4. What we watch and play | Things right for my age, and I ask before downloading any game or app. |
| 5. What we do together | A film or a game with the family at the weekend, and once a week I show a parent what I watch. |
| 6. Instead of screens | Football, drawing, and a story we read together before bed. |
| 7. What the adults promise | No phones at the table, and no phones while we talk at bedtime. |
| 8. When something goes wrong | If I see something that upsets me, I tell a parent, and I am not punished for telling. If I go over time, the next day's time is fifteen minutes shorter. |
| 9. Review | At the start of next term, and at the start of the summer holiday. |
Signatures: the child, then the parents, then the date.
The numbers in this example are this family's choice, not medical advice; after five, the AAP gives no single number. If your child uses the String for Families app, count its time in clause 1 like any other screen.
What changes with age
| Age | What the guidance says | What the agreement focuses on | Who writes it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 2 | WHO 2019: no screen time under one; no sedentary screen time at one | The adults' clauses: where screens are when the child is around, and reading and stories instead | The parents |
| 2 to 4 | WHO 2019: one hour of sedentary screen time at most, less is better | A fixed time that repeats every day, and a timer that says when it ends | The parents, asking the child what they like |
| 5 to 8 | AAP (2024): consistent, predictable routines and time limits for younger children; built-in timers ease the switch | Fixed times, and asking before downloading any app | Together: the child suggests, the parents decide |
| 9 to 12 | AAP (2025): no single time limit; balance, content, co-viewing and communication | “Yes” and “no” rules, screen-free places, and what to do on seeing something upsetting | Together, and the child signs |
| 13 and up | AAP (2025): nighttime do-not-disturb settings and fewer notifications | Sleep and notifications, and what is asked of the parents too | The teenager drafts it, the parents discuss it |
How to write it together in one sitting
Ask before you decide
Start with what your child enjoys on screens and what bothers them there. A child who is heard first finds their own words in the agreement, not a list handed to them.
Start with places and times, not minutes
Agree clauses 2 and 3 first: where screens do not go, and where devices sleep at night. The AAP page makes the dinner table, homework time and before bed screen-free, and UNICEF's page advises keeping devices out of bedrooms at certain hours of the night to protect sleep. If homework itself is the fight, how much to help with homework can help.
Write the “yes” rules and the “no” rules
UNICEF's page suggests agreeing together on “yes” rules — things your child should do — and “no” rules for safety, and making clear that an honest mistake does not automatically mean punishment. That is where clause 8 comes from.
Write down what replaces the screen
The AAP page suggests adding fun swaps: reading, outdoor play, family games and hobbies. Name them in clause 6. If you want reading to be one of them, a home reading plan gives a chart by age.
Write what the adults promise
The AAP page asks for a plan for every member of the family, including you, because parents model digital habits. Clause 7 is what makes the page an agreement rather than a list of orders.
Set the review date, then sign
The AAP sees the start of each school year, and summer and other holidays, as good times to review the plan, and expects it to change as your child grows. Write the date in clause 9, all sign, and put the page up where everyone can see it.
Three mistakes that leave the agreement on the fridge
- An agreement for the child alone: without a clause for the adults, it is a list of orders with the child's signature on it. Write clause 7 before clause 1.
- A number with no place and no bedtime: an hour a day means little if the phone sleeps next to the bed. Start with places and bedtime, then minutes.
- Punishing honesty: if your child loses the device for telling you about something upsetting online, they will not tell you next time. Keep telling and going over time apart in clause 8.
When to ask a paediatrician or the school counsellor
The agreement is a way to organise home life, not a treatment. The AAP's “Kids & Tech: 12 Tips for Parents in the Digital Age” (last updated 16 January 2024) names signs worth watching: constant arguments about media and little interest in other activities in younger children; withdrawing from friends and hobbies in teenagers; and, at any age, screens cutting into physical activity, eating or sleep.
If those signs appear and last despite the agreement, or you are worried about your child's sleep or behaviour, talk to your paediatrician. If something at school seems to sit behind the screen — pressure from friends, or trouble with lessons — talk to the school counsellor; UNICEF's page warns against blaming everything on technology. How to know your child's level gives five checks to see what is happening with their schoolwork.
Frequently asked questions
- How many hours of screen time should a child have?
- Under five, WHO (2019) says: no screen time under one, no sedentary screen time at one, and at most one hour from two to four years, less being better. After five the AAP gives no single number, so the family sets it in clause 1, together with the places and bedtime.
- Should I ban the phone completely?
- The guidance cited here does not ask for a total ban after age two; it focuses on balance, content, sleep and talking with your child. As for buying your child a phone of their own, the AAP advises thinking carefully before you do.
- How do I set phone rules for kids without a fight every day?
- Write the rules once, together, put them up, and point to the page instead of reopening the debate every evening. A timer helps younger children move on when time is up.
- Where can I get a printable screen-time agreement PDF?
- At the top of this page: the blank nine-clause template with two signature lines, on one page, free and with no sign-up.
Sources
Every fact in this post that we did not produce ourselves comes from one of these sources.
- To grow up healthy, children need to sit less and play more — World Health Organization, 2019-04-24
- Screen Time Guidelines — American Academy of Pediatrics, Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health, 2025-05-22 (last updated)
- How to Make a Family Media Plan — HealthyChildren.org (American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Communications and Media), 2026-01-20 (last updated)
- Kids & Tech: 12 Tips for Parents in the Digital Age — HealthyChildren.org (American Academy of Pediatrics), 2024-01-16 (last updated)
- 10 ways to create healthy digital habits at home — UNICEF Parenting, undated (read 2026-10-22)
Written with String's editorial team: we use AI for research and first drafts, and a person checks every fact and every source before anything is published. How we write
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“I grew up in a house of teachers.” I spent a year designing the STEM program for one of the largest school groups in Saudi Arabia, have written curriculum by hand, trained robotics coaches and sold software into schools, then left that job to build String in Amman.
