Screen time and healthy habits
4 min readReviewed October 2026 · Internet Safety Australia Editorial Team
In short
- Impact matters more than hours: sleep, schoolwork, movement, mood.
- Protect the two non-negotiables — sleep and the hour before it.
- Routines beat willpower: same rules, same times, written down.
Australian guidance focuses less on a magic number of hours and more on balance: is screen time crowding out sleep, physical activity, schoolwork or face-to-face friendships? A teen gaming with mates for two hours after sport is a different picture from a child alone on short-form video at 1am.
Habits that hold
- Devices charge outside bedrooms overnight — the single highest-impact family rule.
- No screens in the hour before sleep; the hour after waking belongs to the day, not the feed.
- Screen-free meals and at least one screen-free family block each week.
- Use device downtime schedules so the rules enforce themselves (see our parental controls setup guide).
- Model it. Kids audit parents’ habits with brutal accuracy.
When to look closer
Warning signs of unhealthy use: slipping grades, lost interest in offline friends and activities, lying about use, distress when devices are removed, and exhausted mornings. Start with a GP or school counsellor; Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800) supports young people directly.
Common questions
Official sources for this guide
- Raising Children Network — screen time (leaves our site — official service)
- eSafety — screen time (leaves our site — official service)
Reviewed October 2026 by Internet Safety Australia Editorial Team. Internet Safety Australia is independent and not a government website.