The U.S. surgeon general’s office published a “Harms of Screen Use” bulletin warning that children and teens are spending more time on digital devices than sleeping or attending school, and urging caregivers to follow specific age-based limits and “five Ds.”
For many families, mornings are already a blur of alarms, backpacks, and unfinished homework. Now a newly released advisory from the U.S. surgeon general’s office is aiming its sharpest focus at a different time sink: the screen.
The “Harms of Screen Use” bulletin, released Wednesday, May 20, warns that children and teens are spending more time on digital devices than sleeping or attending school. The timing is also striking: the advisory comes as President Donald Trump’s nominee for surgeon general awaits confirmation.
The report spells out harms tied to excessive—and sometimes “compulsive”—screen use. saying children and teens face increased risks to sleep and school performance. It also links heavy use to mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. along with behavioral and social problems. substance abuse. and developmental disruptions.
It frames the problem as broader than social media. Poorer language, educational, and health outcomes, the bulletin says, can follow early and frequent exposure not only to phones and social platforms, but also tablets, computers, games, apps, and even television.
In the opening to the report, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. set the tone with a warning that the issue is no longer limited to one app or platform. “Social media is only one aspect of this ongoing screen time problem. Behavior patterns involving gaming, online gambling, and other forms of virtual interaction are emerging,” he said. “While screen use can have some benefits. the evidence of a range of risks to children’s overall mental and physical health is mounting.”.
The advisory makes clear it is not asking parents to do this alone. It points caregivers toward the kind of structured steps often echoed in pediatric guidance, describing harms alongside recommendations similar to those laid out by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
It also offers an action-oriented message centered on replacing screen time with what it calls “real-life” activities. “Live real life” is the motto of the advisory, and it comes with a toolkit meant to involve parents, schools, health care providers, policymakers, and tech companies.
Schools. for example. are urged to implement “bell-to-bell” ban policies designed to limit or eliminate multitasking during school hours. while dedicating instructional time to media literacy. Health care providers are encouraged to ask families about screen usage during annual well-child visits and suggest healthy parameters.
The bulletin also calls on policymakers to pass laws requiring child safety and privacy protections and to fund research into mental and physical health outcomes linked to screen time.
For technology companies, the guidance asks for child safety and privacy to be treated as priorities, with platforms and features designed accordingly.
The advisory then narrows in on the numbers. It lays out what it calls the “five Ds” of screen time, beginning with concrete limits by age.
Under the report’s guidance, children under 18 months old should have no screen time. Children under 6 should have less than 1 hour per day. For ages 6 to 18. the advisory says children should have only up to two hours daily—described in the bulletin as a significant departure from the eight-plus hours teens 13 to 18 currently average.
The “five Ds” shift from limits to behavior.
First. discuss healthy screen use with household members. including having young people reflect on what they do online and how it makes them feel. Second. do model the healthy behaviors you want to see—being conscious about both how much time you spend on screens and what type of content you consume. Third. delay screen time as long as possible from the earliest age. then establish age-appropriate limits and types of content. noting that different devices can be introduced at different ages.
Fourth. divert and redirect attention away from screens to other healthy activities. including physical activity. and prioritize completing tasks such as chores. homework. music. or sports before screen use. Fifth, disconnect from screens regularly and schedule daily screen-free time—such as a family dinner.
The sequence the bulletin lays out is hard to miss: it ties screen use to sleep, learning, and health outcomes; then it pairs those claims with a set of limits and household routines aimed at making change measurable.
As for the real-world challenge, the advisory is asking families to unwind years of habits built around constant connectivity—at the same time it insists screens are not harmless when they crowd out rest, school, and basic development.
For families weighing what to cut first. the bulletin’s message is direct: screen time isn’t just a lifestyle choice. It is a set of risks that. according to the report. show up in sleep. school. mental health. behavior. and development—and it can be reduced with specific. age-based steps and a daily replacement plan built around “real-life” time.
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