Kids and Phones: How to Teach Kids Healthy Smartphone Habits

It’s our own personal assistant. It can order food for us, give us directions, remind us of deadlines, play our favorite music and movies, answer virtually any question and contains our favorite games. What an amazing blessing!

It can blunt our productivity, create an addictive attachment, allow us to binge on content from dark parts of the Internet and disconnect us from real-life relationships. Further, it can hurt our overall social behavior and language. 

This object is our cell phone, a “smart” device that comes with a plethora of pros and cons. Sometimes it’s hard to believe we ever lived without them, and other days we wish they had never been invented.

Due to their increasing prevalence and marketing, younger and younger children are being encouraged to use these mobile Internet devices, which sometimes double as cell phones.  

Not even adults have mastered the cell phone yet

Before we consider handing off the power of the Internet and instant communication to youngsters, we should acknowledge that even adults are not faring well with smartphone usage. 

A 2024 survey found that approximately 86 percent of those surveyed say they’re addicted to their phones (up from 57 percent in 2023) and that on average Americans check their phones around 205 times per day (up from 144).

A California State University article quoted Ofir Turel, a professor at its Fullerton campus, as estimating 5 to 10 percent of Americans could meet the criteria for being addicted to social media, which is easily accessed via cell phone.

We might ask ourselves: Is the cell phone itself addictive, or is it simply the tool? Addiction often thrives on convenience, opportunity and secrecy—and what better vehicle for that than a handheld device we can access anytime, anywhere, with virtually no accountability?

Sounds great, now let’s hand them off to the kids

The statistics and stories get even more dire when teens and young children start using these handy mobile devices. A quick Internet search can provide most of the horror show, but here are some highlights:

• A link between phone usage and declining academic performance was found in 15-year-olds by the Program for International Student Assessment.
• Problematic smartphone use is linked to teen anxiety, depression and insomnia, according to two U.K. studies.
• As smartphone use has risen, teen mental health has declined.

Education and health-care professionals are sounding the alarm in whatever way they can. Around 76 percent of public schools “prohibit non-academic use of cellphones or smartphones during school hours” (“Schools Across the U.S. Restrict Cell Phones News”). 

The National Library of Medicine recommends no screen time for children under 2, and a limit of one or two hours for children over 2. “Screen time” includes watching TV, working on a computer, playing video games and using smartphones. 

Now consider the 2025 statistic that on average people spend 6 hours and 45 minutes a day just on their smartphones. 

For adults, that’s not great. For kids and teens with fast-developing brains, that amount of time can be devastating.

That’s it! Burn them all!

To be clear, not all screen time for kids is bad. 

Screen time used for connecting with family, work or educational purposes is a positive exception to the rule. The problem is that we can become so engrossed in our devices that we wonder what happened to the last hour spent on social media. Teens and kids are spending hours upon hours that way, and the results are troubling.

There are so many thought-provoking, entertaining and just plain fun uses of social media, it’s no wonder that adults and children are becoming completely addicted. Smartphones are modern marvels, and it can seem as if only those in the dark ages don’t have one. 

But with so much of our time spent staring at our phones, are we missing out on other things life can offer us—time with our friends and family, opportunities to develop skills and try new things, being present with those who are sitting in the same room with us? 

Adults and children could all benefit from a little less screen time, but can we do it without completely discarding the amazing technology we are blessed to have?

There must be some way to have our cake and eat it too, right?

God commands us to put Him first and not worship idols (Exodus 20:1-4). Idolatry is making anything more important to us than the living God—and that “anything” can include money, sex or even technology. 

With so much of our time spent staring at our phones, are we missing out on other things life can offer us? Many young people sleep with their phones, fear being without them, check them over a hundred times a day, stare at them for hours, lose sleep because of them and struggle to go even a few minutes without looking at them.

It’s unnerving. 

Money, sex and technology are not inherently evil. Money can be a valuable tool for building a worry-free life and serving others. Sex can be a beautiful, mutual gift a married couple bestows on each other. Technology can connect people across continents and improve the lives of millions.  

It’s all about how these things are used. 

How to teach (and model!) phone use in moderation

Here are a few ways parents can help their children use their phones without letting it dominate their lives:

1. Set up the available safety nets. 

Guardrails and restraints, such as monitoring software and time restrictions, are available for children’s cell phones. Are we using them and trying to be temperate in all things (1 Corinthians 9:25)? 

I love my television shows, video games, texting with friends, social media and movies. But if any of these start taking up too much time or begin to affect my sleep, relationships, mental health or overall well-being, then it’s time to learn to practice moderation.

2. Make the cell phone the tool, not the experience. 

Scrolling and reading can be fun on our phones, but the videos and pictures might be giving us FOMO—the fear of missing out. Meanwhile, reading on screens can mess with our brains by overstimulating the prefrontal cortex and negatively affecting our comprehension. This is in addition to eyestrain, insomnia and a shortened attention span. 

Remember, abundant life is the real fun (John 10:10), and the phone should be a tool to help us connect and set up activities, not something for us to just stare at. 

3. Don’t demonize all screen time, just the overuse and abuse of it. 

Are we making the most of the time we have each day for positive pursuits (Ephesians 5:16)? Play and entertainment are essential, especially for children. There’s no reason to demonize some time spent on devices and screens that’s just for fun.  

We should avoid lumping all screen time into the same bag. There can be positive and uplifting content for our younger counterparts, just as there can be for us. We’ll want to avoid being seen as hypocrites.

But when the “just for fun” turns into “I can’t tear the phone out of their hands without a meltdown,” it’s no longer fun, relaxing or healthy. It is codependency that is destroying mental health and sucking up productive time. 

More insights on avoiding technology traps

Our article “10 Ways to Protect Kids From Technology Traps” shares more helpful tips on how to protect kids from technology that can have negative effects on them if overused or misused. 

Here are a few tips from that article:

• Establish family rules for technology use.
• Don’t allow electronic media in bedrooms or other secluded areas. 
• Monitor your children’s mobile phone and online activity. 
• Get your kids involved in nondigital activities.
• Model godly use of technology. 

Be the master, not the slave, of smartphones 

As cell phones become increasingly advanced, especially with the rise of artificial intelligence, this issue is unlikely to disappear anytime soon.  

As we determine what will work for our own families, we can keep in mind a familiar scripture with implications about all addictions, even cell phones: “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16). 

If problematic smartphone use is keeping us and our kids from godly behavior, such as spending time with our families, building relationships with others and fulfilling our responsibilities, then we are obeying a device, albeit with an amazing camera and an expensive new upgrade coming out next year.

Ultimately, our phones should be tools we control, not masters that control us. Let’s strive to use these devices in ways that support, rather than hinder, our relationships with God and others.  

Date Posted: September 1, 2025