Make a family media plan together
Screen rules handed down from above get dodged; rules everyone helped write, including the adults, have a fighting chance. In 45 minutes you make a family media plan together and stick it on the fridge.
- Time
- 45 min
- Cost
- $0
- Ages
- 5 to 17
- Where
- Kitchen table
What you need
- A laptop or tablet open to the AAP Family Media Plan on HealthyChildren.org
- A big sheet of paper and markers
- A basket or box where phones and tablets go during screen-free times
- Snacks
Before you start
- Pick a calm day. Not right after a fight about screens, or it feels like a sentence instead of a plan.
- Start with bedrooms and meals. The AAP suggests screen-free bedrooms and mealtimes as a first step, especially the hour before bed.
- One rule that never changes: if anything online scares them, or someone asks for photos or secrets, they tell you, and they don't lose the device for telling.
- Keep kids' details private if you save the plan online. First names or nicknames are enough.
Steps
- Look it over first. Preview the AAP Family Media Plan alone and write down two changes for your own screen use.
- Call the meeting. Put devices in the basket and say: "We're making screen rules together, and they include me."
- Start with what's good. Each person names one thing screens are great for in your family. Write them down.
- Pick the places and times. Use the tool to choose screen-free places and times together. Write down what everyone agrees to.
- Everyone commits to one thing. Dad commits to one change first. Then each kid picks one. Write names next to them.
- Post it and set a review date. Post the plan on the fridge, have everyone sign it, and set a review date.
If it stalls
- If kids treat it like a trap, start with your own commitment and invite them to call you on it.
- If a teen won't engage, ask what rule they'd write for you, and for their younger siblings. Then ask for one for themselves.
Days we kept the dinner table screen-free
Signed off: can do this.Signed by Date