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One more video. One more message. A quick check that turns into twenty minutes. For a teenager finishing the day, a phone can keep the conversation going long after the rest of the house has settled down. For parents, that raises a familiar question: what should bedtime look like when so much of a child’s social life happens on a screen? A study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health on November 6, 2026, examined 218 teenagers ages 13–18 across the United States. According to its published abstract, researchers monitored smartphone activity for an average of 17.5 days and compared it with survey-reported sleep. Greater smartphone use was associated with later sleep onset, shorter sleep, more variation between scheduled-day and free-day sleep timing, and more catch-up sleep on free nights. The strongest associations involved evening, nighttime and social media use. Several links with sleep timing and duration were stronger among female participants. Phone use was recorded automatically, but sleep was self-reported. These associations do not prove that smartphone use caused the sleep problems. The study did not test bedtime reading or the Book Buddy. For families thinking about screen time and teen sleep, a useful place to begin is the evening routine. What needs to happen before bed, and where does the phone fit? The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends putting screens away at least an hour before bedtime and charging devices outside the bedroom. Discuss a stopping time with your teen while everyone is awake and reasonably relaxed. Ask what they usually do on their phone at night. Homework, talking with friends and watching videos may each need a different place in the evening. Make the agreement specific. Choose a charging spot. Decide when schoolwork needs to wrap up. If your teen uses a phone as an alarm, consider a separate alarm clock, an option included in the AAP’s teen sleep guidance. That guidance also recommends 8–10 hours of sleep per night and a relaxing bedtime routine. Give your teen a say in what fills that quieter time. They might choose a printed book, a journal or a shower. Let them choose a paperback they actually want to read. Ask what interests them, browse a bookstore together or let them lead the next library visit. You can join in, too. Put your own phone on the charger and pick up something you have been meaning to read. Sitting together with separate books can be its own family ritual, even when nobody feels like talking. At Read To Me, we love the idea of giving stories a regular place at the end of the day. For families with younger children, that might mean choosing a picture book after pajamas and teeth brushing, then settling into the same favorite chair. Let your child turn the pages. Enjoy the voice they insist you use for the bear. Leave room for the question that has very little to do with the story. Those details are part of what makes the routine yours. When a loved one cannot be there, a recorded story can still be part of that reading time. The Recordable Book Buddy attaches to the back cover of virtually any children’s picture book. A parent, grandparent or other loved one records the story page by page, and the child presses the matching buttons to listen while following the physical pages. It creates a personalized read along experience with no apps, no screens and no Wi-Fi. A parent working evenings can record the story they usually read together. A grandparent can leave a favorite book with their own voice inside it. Add a familiar greeting, a silly character voice or the same goodnight you always say. The Recordable Book Buddy is available for under $30, in over 150 independent bookstores and online at RecordableBookBuddy.com. Start with one evening habit your family wants to make room for. Give it a time, a place and something to look forward to. A favorite story is a lovely place to begin. Your Voice. Their Favorite Story.

You sit down to read a picture book. Your child opens to a favorite page, and your phone lights up with a message from school. It is an ordinary parenting moment. The device that helps keep family life running is also asking for your attention during time you set aside together. For families thinking about parents’ phone use and kids, it helps to look carefully at the research before deciding what to change. Published October 21, 2026, in JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting, the study followed 131 parents for 10 days, with children ages 1–16. Parents reported phone use around their child and rated their child’s emotions. Consenting Android users also provided phone logs. Some self-reports linked greater phone use with parents perceiving more negative emotions or threats to their child’s needs, such as belonging. Patterns varied between mothers and fathers. No significant associations emerged for positive emotions. Phone logs showed no significant associations with the measured child outcomes. However, logs measured total use without establishing whether the child was present. Children did not report their own experiences. This short observational study cannot establish causation or long-term outcomes. The findings also cannot establish that every pattern of phone use is harmless. So where can a family begin? Start with a routine you would like to enjoy together and decide what would make it easier to follow through. The American Academy of Pediatrics’ Family Media Plan guidance recommends setting aside screen-free times and places, making room for activities such as reading and play, and including adults in the plan. Here are three ways to put those ideas into practice: Choose one part of the day. Try breakfast, an after-school snack or the first story at bedtime. Pick something that fits your actual schedule. Give phones somewhere to go. A shelf or charging spot can make your agreement concrete. Decide together how you will handle a call that needs answering. Let everyone help choose the activity. A child might want a game, a walk or the same picture book for the fifth night in a row. Give them a say. At Read To Me, we like starting with a book because the invitation is simple: sit beside me and see what happens on the next page. Let your child pick the story. Pause when an illustration catches their attention. Ask which character they would invite to dinner, or what they think is hiding behind that suspicious-looking door. If the story inspires a long conversation about something that happened at school, follow it. You can also make storytime easier to start. Keep a small basket of favorites beside the couch. Put the next bedtime book on the pillow before dinner. Ask a visiting grandparent to choose a story they would like to read. Choose one idea to try tonight, then notice what your family enjoys enough to repeat. For the times you are apart, a recorded story offers another way to share a familiar voice. The Recordable Book Buddy attaches to the back cover of virtually any children’s picture book. A loved one records the story page by page, and a child presses the matching buttons to listen while following the physical pages. It creates a personalized read along experience with no apps, no screens and no Wi-Fi. A grandparent can record a favorite story before heading home. A parent working evenings can leave a bedtime reading. A traveling family member can add a familiar character voice that makes everyone laugh. Reading and the Book Buddy were not tested in this study. The Book Buddy gives families a practical way to keep recorded stories available alongside the time they spend reading together. The Recordable Book Buddy is available for under $30, in over 150 independent bookstores and online at RecordableBookBuddy.com. Tonight, let your child choose a book, find a comfortable spot and give that story a place in your day. Your Voice. Their Favorite Story.

Twenty minutes with a tablet can describe very different afternoons. A child might be learning a song with a parent, talking with a grandparent or clicking through videos alone. A timer captures the minutes. Understanding the experience takes a few more questions. For families thinking about kids’ screen time, the goal is to make choices that fit the child and leave room for the rest of the day: conversation, movement, sleep, play and stories. What the review of nine million young people reported According to Scienmag’s report, the review published in eClinicalMedicine brought together 121 systematic reviews, covering approximately 2,790 primary studies and more than nine million participants ages 0–24. That age range includes young adults. The reported findings showed several different patterns: Younger children: Higher screen exposure was linked with shorter sleep and more social, emotional and behavioral difficulties. Content and company: Educational content with caregiver involvement was associated with better language development. Background television was associated with weaker language and executive functioning. Older participants: Problematic use, involving difficulty controlling use despite negative consequences, had particularly concerning associations with mental health. Potential benefits: Some gaming and positive online social interactions were associated with better outcomes. Most evidence was rated low or very low certainty, and much was observational. These findings show associations, not proof that screens caused the outcomes. Millions of participants cannot remove those limitations. Five questions to ask alongside “How long?” The American Academy of Pediatrics offers a practical framework for this broader conversation: its 5 C’s of media guidance. The five areas are the child, content, calming strategies, what media crowds out and communication. Here is how a parent might use them: Child: Does this activity suit my child’s age, interests and needs? Content: What are they actually watching or playing? Would I be comfortable joining them? Calm: What other ways can we practice handling boredom, frustration or winding down? Crowding out: Is there room for sleep, outdoor time, family conversation and books? Communication: What does my child enjoy about this activity, and is anything online upsetting them? These questions give you something specific to discuss. Ask an older child to show you a favorite game. Sit beside a younger child during a program. Start with curiosity, and use what you learn to shape your family’s plan. Put the questions to work in everyday life Consider a preschooler who enjoys videos about animals. You could choose something suitable together, talk about a favorite animal afterward and find a picture book about it at the library. A screen experience becomes one part of a larger afternoon. For a child who wants entertainment while dinner cooks, set out a small choice of activities ahead of time. A book, modeling clay or a drawing challenge gives them somewhere to start. Let them help decide what goes in the basket. For an older child, the conversation might begin with friends: “What do you like about playing together online?” Their answer can help you understand which parts of the activity they value. You can also make a few practical adjustments recommended in the AAP’s Family Media Plan guidance: turn off autoplay, put away unused devices and choose times when everyone takes a screen break. Adults belong in that plan too. Make shared reading part of the routine At Read To Me, we think books deserve a regular place in that mix. Shared reading has evidence of its own. The AAP’s literacy promotion policy recommends reading together from infancy, describing its value for early language, literacy and relationships between children and caregivers. Storytime gives you plenty to do together. Ask your child to choose the next book. Let them explain an illustration, invent a different ending or supply the sound effects. If they want to linger on one page, stay there. For a simple activity, pick a character and ask what they might do at your house. Would the bear fit through the doorway? What would the dragon eat for breakfast? Would the tiny mouse sleep in a slipper? Those conversations need no elaborate setup. The book supplies the starting point, and you and your child supply the rest. Keep a familiar voice close, even when you are apart Being there for every story is not always possible. A grandparent may live across the country. A parent may work evenings or travel. The Recordable Book Buddy lets a loved one record a picture book in their own voice, page by page. It attaches to the back cover of virtually any children’s picture book, creating a personalized read along experience. Children press the matching buttons and follow along with the physical pages. No screens, apps or Wi-Fi are required. The review did not test the Book Buddy. It is a practical option for families who want favorite stories and familiar voices available during everyday reading time. Available for under $30 on our website, RecordableBookBuddy.com, in over 150 independent bookstores, and through all major online retailers. Try choosing one story your family loves this week. Read it together when you can, record it for the moments you are apart, and let your child decide which page deserves another listen. Your Voice. Their Favorite Story.

For a parent, the screen-time question often arrives in the middle of an already busy day. Another episode while dinner cooks. A game after school. A tablet on a long trip. Making decisions about children’s screen habits means thinking about what fits into family life, including the experiences you want to protect. New research offers useful evidence for that conversation, with some important limits on what it can tell us. What the new screen-time review found Published September 28, 2026, in JAMA Pediatrics, the research combined 23 meta-analyses representing more than 2.8 million children across 64 countries. Participants were 18 or younger. This was an umbrella review: a synthesis of existing research reviews. Higher screen exposure was associated with lower overall academic achievement and language skills, along with more behavioral, emotional and peer problems. Social media use was also associated with more internalizing problems, a category that includes symptoms such as anxiety and depression. Many associations were small. Results also varied with factors including age and screen type. The review found no statistically clear overall association with executive functioning, prosocial behavior, or individual reading, mathematics and science scores. Prosocial behavior includes actions such as helping and cooperating. That distinction matters: the association with language skills does not mean the review found lower reading scores. What the results can and cannot tell us A large review can identify patterns, but it cannot automatically explain their causes. In expert commentary published by the Science Media Centre, researchers noted that much of the underlying evidence measured screen use and developmental outcomes at the same time. That makes it difficult to establish which came first. A child experiencing difficulties might spend more time on screens. Family circumstances might also influence both screen habits and well-being. An association alone cannot settle those possibilities. Experts also cautioned that the larger estimates for emotional and peer problems rested on relatively few studies and were less precise. These findings deserve attention, but they cannot predict what will happen to an individual child or show that every screen activity has the same effect. Make room for the experiences you value For families, a useful place to start is the day you want your child to have. Is there time for playing outside? Talking over dinner? Getting enough sleep? Looking through a book without rushing? The American Academy of Pediatrics’ Family Media Plan guidance recommends protecting room for activities such as reading, play and hobbies, setting screen-free times and places, and including adults in the plan. Here are four ways to put those ideas into practice: Pick one reliable reading moment. Try a book after pajamas or while an older sibling finishes homework. Choose a moment your family can realistically repeat. Let children choose the books. Bring home a small stack from the library and put their favorites where they can reach them. Prepare an activity for the transition. Have a puzzle, drawing project or book ready when the device goes away. Ask your child to help choose. Join in when you can. Put your phone aside during the story. Let the conversation wander if an illustration reminds your child of something. These are starting points. Adapt them to your child’s age, interests and needs. Why shared reading deserves a place in the routine Shared reading has its own evidence behind it. The AAP’s literacy promotion policy recommends reading together from infancy, describing benefits for language, early literacy and the relationships between children and caregivers. A book gives you something to explore together. You can ask what a character might do next, talk about an unfamiliar word or laugh at a detail in the picture. Your child can interrupt, disagree, make a prediction or ask to start again. Try keeping the conversation playful: “What do you think is hiding behind that door?” “Which character would you invite to our house?” “Can you tell this page in your own words?” You do not need to turn storytime into a lesson. A comfortable place, a book your child likes and a few minutes of attention give you somewhere to begin. Keep a loved one’s voice part of storytime There are also days when a parent works late or a grandparent lives too far away to read in person. The Recordable Book Buddy lets that loved one record a story in their own voice. It attaches to the back cover of virtually any children’s picture book, turning it into a personalized read along experience. Children press the matching buttons to listen page by page while following the physical book, with no screens, apps or Wi-Fi required. The Book Buddy was not evaluated in this review. Its role is straightforward: giving families another way to make familiar voices and favorite books part of everyday life. Available for under $30 on our website, RecordableBookBuddy.com, in over 150 independent bookstores, and through all major online retailers. Tonight, invite your child to choose a story. Leave a little room for the funny voices, the questions and the page they want to hear twice. Your Voice. Their Favorite Story.

Meta is calling for new industry-wide limits on teen social media use. For parents, the bigger lesson may be that healthy screen habits should start long before a child gets their first Instagram or TikTok account. The conversation around kids and screen time took another significant turn this week. On August 26, 2026, Meta published an [open letter to TikTok and YouTube](Meta’s open letter), calling on the competing platforms to adopt a new set of protections designed to reduce excessive social media use among teenagers. Meta says it has reached an agreement with a bipartisan group of attorneys general across U.S. states and territories that would introduce several significant restrictions for users under 18. Among them: A two-hour daily time limit Apps turned off at night by default No notifications during school hours Prompts every 15 minutes during continuous screen use Additional parental supervision controls Meta is urging TikTok and YouTube to adopt similar measures, arguing that restricting teenagers on one platform has limited value if they simply move to another. It is an important development. But for parents of younger children, it also raises a much bigger question: Why wait until our kids are teenagers to start thinking seriously about their relationship with screens? Screen Habits Start Long Before Social Media Instagram, TikTok and YouTube may dominate the conversation about teenagers, but a child's relationship with technology begins years before they are old enough to open a social media account. Tablets during meals. Videos in the car. Phones in waiting rooms. Screens before bedtime. None of these things automatically makes a parent irresponsible, and screens themselves are not inherently bad. They can entertain, educate and connect us. The problem comes when screens begin displacing the things children also need: conversation, imaginative play, sleep, physical activity, reading and time connecting with other people. That concern extends well beyond social media. In May 2026, the U.S. Surgeon General released a new warning on harmful screen use among children and adolescents. The advisory notes that early screen exposure has been associated with developmental and cognitive risks, including poorer language outcomes, while excessive screen use among school-age children has been linked with educational and health concerns. The American Academy of Pediatrics similarly encourages families to create intentional boundaries around technology, including screen-free areas and times, turning off autoplay and unnecessary notifications, and making sure screens do not crowd out reading, outdoor play, family games and hobbies. That last point matters. Because healthy screen habits aren't only about what we take away. They're also about what we put in its place. Telling Kids to Put Down the Screen Isn't Enough Anyone who has ever tried taking a tablet away from an absorbed child knows that "less screen time" sounds much easier in theory than it does in real life. Parents need alternatives. And those alternatives have to be compelling enough to compete with technology engineered to capture attention. A book is one of the simplest places to start. Reading slows things down. It asks children to listen, imagine, think and participate. When a parent, grandparent or caregiver is part of that experience, reading also becomes something more important: connection. That is exactly the problem we wanted to help solve when we created the Read To Me Recordable Book Buddy. Using Technology to Create Less Screen Time At Read To Me, we don't believe the answer to concerns about technology is eliminating technology altogether. We believe technology should serve families rather than compete with them. The Recordable Book Buddy attaches to the back cover of virtually any children's picture book and lets a parent, grandparent or loved one record the story page by page in their own voice. There is no screen to stare at. No app to download. No Wi-Fi connection. No algorithm deciding what the child should consume next. The child still holds a physical book. They still turn the pages. They still follow the pictures and words. The technology simply brings a familiar voice into the experience, even when the person who recorded the story cannot be there. For a traveling parent, a grandparent who lives across the country, a military family experiencing deployment or simply a busy family trying to make reading part of the daily routine, it is technology built around human connection instead of endless engagement. Your Voice. Their Favorite Story. The Most Important Screen-Time Feature Might Be an "Off" Button Meta's proposed restrictions are noteworthy partly because of what they acknowledge. Infinite access isn't necessarily healthy. Notifications don't need to interrupt children throughout the school day. Apps don't need to be available at midnight. And sometimes technology should actively encourage a user to stop using it. The U.S. Surgeon General has previously warned that the effects of social media on young people are complicated. Social media can provide genuine benefits, including community and connection, but evidence also points to meaningful risks, particularly with heavy use. The Surgeon General has recommended that families establish technology boundaries and create tech-free zones while encouraging offline relationships and activities. Those habits become much easier when they are established early. A five-year-old who learns that bedtime means stories rather than videos is beginning to build a habit. A seven-year-old who reaches for a book when they're bored is building a habit. A family that regularly puts phones away during meals is building a habit. By the time those children become teenagers, boundaries around technology aren't suddenly being introduced for the first time. They're already part of family life. We Need Better Technology, But We Also Need Better Habits Meta's proposal isn't a complete solution to the challenges surrounding children and technology. Nor should parents have to depend entirely on Meta, TikTok, YouTube, Apple, Google or any other technology company to determine how much screen time is appropriate for their children. Platforms have responsibilities. Parents have a role. Schools have a role. Policymakers have a role. And companies designing products for children have a role, too. For those of us building technology for families, one of the questions should be incredibly simple: Does this product bring people closer together, or does it pull their attention away from one another? At Read To Me, that question sits at the center of what we're building. Technology is going to remain part of our children's lives. The goal shouldn't necessarily be raising children without technology. It should be raising children who understand that technology has a place. And that there are times to turn it off. There are still stories to read, games to play, places to explore and people sitting right beside us who deserve our attention. Long before Instagram starts telling our teenagers they've reached their two-hour limit, we can help teach them that lesson ourselves. About Read To Me Read To Me creates simple technology designed to help families connect through storytelling without adding another screen. The Read To Me Recordable Book Buddy attaches to the back cover of virtually any children's picture book, allowing a loved one to record the story page by page in their own voice and create a personalized read-along experience. The Recordable Book Buddy is available in over 140 independent bookstores and online.

For many families, the most challenging screen-time decisions do not happen when everyone is calm and rested. They happen at 6 p.m. Dinner needs to be made. Someone is tired. Someone else is having a meltdown. A parent is trying to finish one last work email, and handing a child a tablet can create a few desperately needed minutes of quiet. New research from Florida International University suggests that these stressful moments may play a bigger role in children's screen habits than we realize. A study published in Family Relations found that parents experiencing higher levels of stress were less likely to consistently enforce screen-time limits, while parents who felt overwhelmed by their child's behavior were more likely to use screens to help manage difficult moments. The takeaway isn't that parents need another reason to feel guilty about screen time. It may actually be the opposite. The research suggests that if we want to help children develop healthier relationships with technology, we may need to pay more attention to the stress parents are experiencing too. What Did the Researchers Study? Researchers from Florida International University's Center for Children and Families surveyed 822 caregivers across the United States who had children between the ages of 4 and 8. Parents answered questions about their own parenting stress, their child's behavior and the strategies they used to manage screen media. Importantly, the researchers separated parenting stress into different categories, including: Stress related to a parent's own emotional distress Stress associated with difficult or challenging child behavior Stress related to the parent-child relationship Researchers then examined how these different types of stress were associated with two common parenting behaviors: using screens to regulate a child's behavior and setting limits around screen use. Parent Stress Appears to Matter Even When Child Behavior Is Taken Into Account One of the most interesting findings was that the connection between parenting stress and screen management remained even after researchers accounted for children's behavioral problems. Parents experiencing greater personal distress tended to enforce fewer screen-time limits. Meanwhile, parents who perceived their child as particularly difficult to manage were more likely to use screens as a way of calming or managing their child's behavior. In other words, it isn't necessarily just a child's tantrum, hyperactivity or difficult behavior that determines whether the tablet comes out. How overwhelmed the parent feels may also influence that decision. That distinction matters. For years, much of the conversation surrounding children's screen time has focused on kids: How much are they watching? What are they watching? Why won't they put the tablet down? This research suggests we may need to zoom out and look at the entire family environment. The 6 P.M. Screen-Time Problem Most parents probably recognize the situation. You can have perfectly reasonable screen-time rules at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning. Those rules become considerably harder to enforce when you're exhausted, preparing dinner, trying to finish work and dealing with a child who is melting down. Screens are remarkably effective at occupying children. And sometimes parents simply need 20 quiet minutes. The researchers don't suggest that reaching for a screen during one of those moments is inherently harmful. Instead, they argue that families may benefit from thinking more intentionally about what children are doing on screens and how digital media fits into family life, rather than focusing exclusively on the number of minutes spent looking at a screen. That's an important shift. Screen Time Isn't All the Same Watching an endless stream of short-form videos isn't necessarily equivalent to video chatting with Grandma, playing a creative game or watching an educational program with a parent. The American Academy of Pediatrics has increasingly encouraged families to consider children's digital media through what it calls the 5 Cs of Media Use: Child: Consider your individual child's age, personality and developmental needs. Content: Pay attention to what your child is actually watching or doing. Calm: Consider whether screens are becoming the primary way your child learns to manage difficult emotions. Crowding Out: Ask what screen time is replacing, including sleep, physical activity, reading or family interaction. Communication: Keep talking with children about technology and how they use it. It's a more nuanced approach than simply watching a timer. Five Ways Parents Can Make Screen Time Easier to Manage The FIU findings point toward a practical lesson: make screen decisions before the stressful moment arrives. 1. Set a Few Simple Rules When Everyone Is Calm Trying to negotiate screen limits during a meltdown is difficult for both parents and children. Instead, establish predictable rules ahead of time. Maybe screens aren't used during dinner. Maybe devices stay out of bedrooms at night. Maybe there is a regular time each afternoon when screens are available. The American Academy of Pediatrics offers a free Family Media Plan designed to help families establish exactly these kinds of boundaries. 2. Have Easy Screen-Free Alternatives Ready When a parent is exhausted, complicated activities aren't realistic. The best alternative to a tablet may be something a child can begin independently. Keep a few easy options accessible, such as: Picture books Coloring supplies Puzzles Building toys Audiobooks or recorded stories Activity books Music Simple crafts The easier an alternative is to start, the more useful it becomes during the moments when parents need a break. 3. Curate Screen Content Before You Need It If your child is going to use a screen, deciding what they will watch ahead of time can remove another decision from an already stressful moment. Parents can create a short list of trusted shows, apps and educational content rather than relying on whatever an algorithm recommends next. Quality matters. 4. Create Screen-Free Anchors in the Day Trying to micromanage every minute of screen use can become exhausting. A simpler approach may be to protect a few predictable parts of the day. Dinner might be screen-free. The final 30 minutes before bedtime might be screen-free. A family walk, reading time or Saturday morning breakfast might be screen-free. These routines help ensure that technology doesn't gradually crowd out activities that matter to the family. 5. Don't Ignore Parent Stress This may be the biggest lesson from the FIU study. If a parent's stress level influences how screens are used, then healthier family technology habits aren't simply about stronger parental controls. Sometimes parents need more support. That could mean sharing responsibilities with a partner, asking family members for help, simplifying an evening routine or simply recognizing which parts of the day consistently push everyone toward their limits. Reducing stress may make it easier to maintain the screen boundaries a family already wants. What This Study Does Not Prove It's important not to read too much into the findings. The research was based on an online survey in which caregivers reported their own stress, their children's behavior and their screen-management practices. It therefore identifies associations, but it cannot prove that parental stress directly causes children to receive more screen time. There may also be a feedback loop. A stressful child behavior could make a parent more likely to offer a screen. Increased reliance on screens could then make boundaries harder to maintain, potentially creating additional conflict around technology. More research will be needed to understand those relationships over time. Still, the study adds an important piece to the screen-time conversation. Maybe Screen Time Isn't Just a Kid Problem Parents are often told what they should be doing with technology. Set limits. Turn off the tablet. Keep phones away from the dinner table. Choose educational programs. Those recommendations can be useful, but they can overlook the reality of family life. Sometimes the parent handing over the tablet already knows the rules. They're just exhausted. The new research from Florida International University suggests that supporting healthy technology habits may require something more practical than simply telling families to reduce screen time. It means helping parents create routines that still work on stressful days, keeping easy screen-free alternatives available and making decisions about technology before everyone reaches their breaking point. Because when it comes to raising children in a digital world, supporting the parent may be one of the most effective ways to support the child. About the Research The study, “Parenting in the digital age: How parenting stress shapes screen media parenting strategies,” was conducted by Enid A. Moreira, Alexandra Schek, Daniel M. Bagner and Shayl F. Griffith and published in Family Relations in 2026. The research involved 822 U.S. caregivers of children ages 4 to 8.