American teenagers spend an average time of seven and a half hours with screens, excluding the time when doing schoolwork. Teens’ safe screen time is two or fewer hours (Legner). During COVID-19, people started using technology more to communicate, work, and entertain themselves; however, this issue has caused increased use of screens in their day-to-day life, and this turns screens into addictions. This screen addiction is more prevalent now than ever before in teenagers and children. Children were born with the advantage of smartphones and modern technology. Screen addiction links to many negative health effects like anxiety issues, depression, and obesity (Legner). To help teenagers and children addicted to technology and shorten their screen times, parents should encourage them to have new hobbies or activities that they can do in their free time instead of using their smartphones. Parents should be willing to limit their own screen times too. Additionally, they should not give their children technology, unless it is necessary for school, until they become high schoolers.

     One of the solutions for teenagers’ screen addiction is for them to be away from their smartphones by having more activities in their free time. Studies suggest that “Involvement in many after-school activities prevents boredom and acts as a natural limitation to screen use” (West). If teenagers have any free time after school, they're going to feel bored, but productive activities like sports, music, or any hobby of their interest will help them be engaged in something that does not have to do with screens. Even though schools help promote social interactions and give an opportunity for children and teenagers to reduce their screen times, many have to do homework through their school laptops; as a result, the excessive screen times that are not for schoolwork are the ones that should be reduced since they can cause many mental and physical health issues. Therefore, limiting screen time helps prevent anxiety, depression, and obesity along with other health issues prolonged use of screens might lead to (Mosley).

     Although setting screen times for teenagers can help stop addiction, parents should be the ones to start by setting limits to their own screen times. Research shows that “Some implications for this study would include the need for parental limitations on screen time for both children and parents themselves because teens, especially boys, are affected by how much they perceive parents to be on screens” (West). Therefore, just using parental controls on screens can decrease the amount of time teenagers use screens, but they can still be going through social anxiety and depression due to the lack of face-to-face interactions with their parents (West). Parents should keep themselves accountable and set screen time limitations for themselves. The goal of screen limitations is to swap screen time with face-to-face interactions which then reduces addiction and any other negative effects that come with screen time (Lindner).

     Even though teenagers might feel like they are mature, their brains are still in development, so parents should be clear and talk to them about the effects that screens have on their brain’s day-to-day performance. “A great starting place to find out if your child is in need of support is to have a non-judgmental conversation” (Supporting Your Child in Their Internet Use). Conversations should help teenagers capture the information about the negative effects of screens (Supporting Your Child in Their Internet Use). Parents should talk to them about the research that shows that extended use of screens correlates to depression and social anxiety, and they can cause sleep problems due to the lights that screens emit damaging sleep cycles; therefore, being away from them before sleeping can help them have better sleep (The Developing Brain in the Digital Era). Parents should make it clear that there are many health and social drawbacks to using screens excessively; for example, being inactive for a prolonged period can slowly generate obesity, which then leads to other health problems (Mosley). Moreover, teenagers who are addicted to screens might stop socializing which will lead to loneliness.