A guide to healthy screen habits for teens, from YouTube and the American Psychological Association
Mar 04, 2025 – [[read-time]] minute read
Screen time is an ongoing discussion for families, schools, and governments around the world. To help, YouTube and the American Psychological Association (APA) are releasing a new parent guide, with evidence-based recommendations to support teens’ healthy video-viewing habits.
1. The message matters more than the medium
Research suggests that the type of content teens watch is more important than how they watch it, regardless of whether it's a long-form or short-form video, or if it’s viewed on a phone or television. Teens benefit from watching content that promotes empathy, optimism, strong interpersonal relationships and communication, no matter the medium.
Teens benefit from watching content that promotes empathy, optimism, strong interpersonal relationships and communication, no matter the medium.
In fact, the right content can have a positive impact on young people, potentially helping teens form stronger social bonds, explore interests and hobbies, and develop more nuanced ways of thinking.
This research underscores the importance of industry policies and products to connect young viewers to enriching content, and protect them from content that depicts violence, aggression, risky behavior like substance abuse, and unrealistic physical standards. At YouTube, we tackle this in a number of ways, like giving parents and teens the option to link accounts and share insights, as well as through our Community Guidelines and safeguards on teens’ content recommendations.
2. There’s no one-size-fits-all rule for screen time
Avoiding excessive screen time is important, but the research to-date does not suggest specific age-cutoffs or time limits. While there's no single "right" answer for teen screen time, recognizing each teen's unique development and the need for increasing autonomy underscores the importance of ongoing family conversations and ground rules.
Screen time should not negatively impact or replace critical adolescent needs, including sleep, exercise, hobbies, and in-person social interactions. In addition to establishing family screen time ground rules, tools like Take a Break and Bedtime reminders empower teens to manage their time online. On YouTube, Take a Break reminders are turned on every 60 minutes by default for viewers under 18, but can be adjusted in settings.
3. Be a digital role model
In today's world, helping teens build and strengthen skills to navigate media consumption is just as crucial to their development as teaching them about nutrition and exercise.
Some key areas where teens could especially use support from the adults in their life include:
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- Raising awareness and understanding of AI-generated content
- Enhancing critical thinking about content and understanding ways to seek high-quality or credible sources
- Recognizing advertisements, including influencer or sponsored content
Above all, parents, caregivers, educators, and other trusted adults all play an important role in modeling healthy media consumption behavior for teens. When talking to teens about what they’re watching, have open conversations, avoid criticism or judgement, and ask questions from a place of curiosity. Check out our Family Guide to Teen Content Creation (created in partnership with Common Sense Networks) for ideas on conversation starters.
In the coming weeks, APA will publish a video series on how to put these learnings into practice. YouTube remains committed to working with third-party child development and mental health experts to inform our products and policies. We’re proud to support the APA on this comprehensive guide for parents of scientific literature related to teen content consumption, and we share the APA’s dedication to support teens’ healthy development.