Updated: 4 November 2026

Create a family screen-time plan

This prompt helps you create a screen-time plan that suits your children's ages and the devices you have at home.

text-family-screen-time-plan — chatgpt — 51 words

Help me create a screen-time plan for my family.

Children's ages: [AGES]
Devices: [DEVICES]
Current problems: [PROBLEMS]
Our values: [VALUES]

Suggest clear rules for weekdays and weekends, screen-free times and places, a fair way to handle exceptions, consequences that make sense, and a script to introduce the plan without a fight.

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Agree the rules together at a family meeting, and follow them yourself.

Get a better result

What you will get

A family plan with weekday and weekend rules, screen-free times and places, a fair way to handle exceptions, consequences that fit, and a script to introduce it without a fight.

Why it works

Screen-time rules last when children see them as fair, so the prompt asks for your values, your problems and a way to handle exceptions. Clear screen-free places and times are easier to keep than a daily minute count. The introduction script is included because how you present the plan decides whether it starts as a discussion or an argument.

Common mistake

The rules are the same for every age.

Fix: Give each child’s age. A seven-year-old and a fifteen-year-old need different limits and different reasons.

Also watch for

The consequences are harsh and hard to keep. Ask for consequences linked to the rule, such as losing the next session, not unrelated punishments.
The adults are not in the plan. As the tip says, follow it yourself. Ask for one rule that applies to parents too, such as no phones at dinner.

Try a variation: school holidays

Ask for a holiday version with more flexible limits, a few screen-free activities for each day, and when the school-term rules come back.

Still not right? Reply with this

Rewrite the plan as a one-page agreement we can sign at a family meeting, with a section for each child and one rule for the adults.