Don't panic - five ways to stop your kids' endless scrolling

If you're a parent, you may have felt somewhat validated by the US court ruling that Meta and Google intentionally built addictive social media platforms that harmed the mental health of a young woman. Lawyers for the woman, known as Kaley, argued that features of Instagram, such as infinite scroll, were designed to be addictive. Although the court ruling has been lauded as a "game-changing moment" for social media companies, it's of little practical use to parents across the world who are trying to cut down their kids' screen time. We asked some parenting experts for their tips on how to pry those phones away from their offspring's hands – even if only for a short while. Many parents who have already given their children tablets or smartphones might wonder if the best thing is to just get rid of them. But that might not be the most productive option, believes child psychologist Dr Jane Gilmour. "Changing a habit is always going to be hard," she says. Instead, she recommends implementing changes at a neutral moment, not in the heat of an argument about screen time. "Calm brains communicate best." A good first step to reducing screen time could be designating a set place in the home for devices, such as a particular cupboard. "Have one place for chargers... so when the phones go away, they go on the charger and that's it." Older children and teenagers can benefit from being part of the conversation around screen time, rather than having rules imposed on them, says child psychologist Dr Maryhan Baker. Acknowledging the peer pressure surrounding social media can help get teens onside, she says, such as telling them: "I understand that that's where you connect with your friends. I understand the social pressure if you're deemed not to be on this. I really get it. "So let's have a conversation about how we can begin to create space within our day, and your day where you're not on that phone all of the time." Parenting coach Olivia Edwards adds that building a strong connection with your child or teenager will make it easier to regulate screen use. "We have to have a strong relationship with our child because that is what's going to get us towards co-operation [and] teamwork." This could include taking a genuine interest in the content your child consumes online. Many parents feel they're struggling to keep up with the rapidly changing fads and trends on social media. But there is an opportunity for both adults and children to learn from each other through frank discussions about screen time. Olivia says: "You might say something like: 'How do you think social media works? How do you think that app works to keep people looking at it? Did you know they make money off the more time people spend on it?'" Jane also says parents can teach their children digital literacy in a hands-on way. "There might be content that you can look at together and say, 'OK, do you think that that is true? How would I figure out if that's true or not?'" It's no secret that children mimic their parents, so encouraging good screen habits in them might have to start with some self reflection. Maryhan encourages a light-hearted approach to this. "Even if we just do a slightly self-deprecating conversation with our kids, like: 'We're all guilty of this, I'm not as great on my relationship with [my phone] as I could be.'" Phones and tablets have provided people of all ages with an ever-present source of entertainment, but Jane says that both adults and children could benefit from embracing boredom a bit more. "Being on the screen, it keeps us looking at the external world. When we go into our internal world and we sort of stare into space, into the middle distance, it allows us to think about the past, it allows us to visualise the future, it predicts creativity. "So when your kids are protesting [that] there's nothing to do, they're just staring into space - that's OK. And actually that's a positive thing." Parenting has never been easy, but raising children in a time where screens are everywhere, while we are still learning how they affect us, can be very worrying. Dr Tony Sampson, a reader in digital communication at the University of Essex, says parents shouldn't fall into the trap of moral panic. "There is a tendency for anxious parents to become caught up in a prevailing media panic and see all adolescent brains as simply hardwired for social media addiction," he says. But children and teenagers have what's called neuroplasticity – their brains are better at adapting and bouncing back than adults' brains. "We read a lot about the ways in which social media erodes attention," he says. "[But] social media does not shorten or erode attention. It captures it and diverts it toward engagement with commercial content. "Positive technological use can help boost neuroplasticity for creativity, exploration and learning."