By: Megan A. Moreno, MD, MSEd, MPH, FAAP
Whether you are going on a family trip across the country or enjoying a staycation at home, vacations are a great chance to have
conversations about media use. With extra free time, it's a perfect moment to set intentional boundaries around screen time to help create a healthy balanced break for everyone.
Tips to find a healthy tech balance on vacation if you are traveling
Define expectations
Discuss how expectations for tech use may change based on the different spaces you will encounter (the hotel room, outdoors or
on a plane, for example).
For more guidance on how to create effective guidelines for media use during travel, check out these resources:
Location sharing safety
Be mindful about location-sharing to reduce safety risks. Parents may want to encourage their child (and themselves) to avoid including location-specific information in the posts that they share. It's also good to make sure all accounts are set to "private."
It might be helpful to use location-sharing apps or abilities within phones as you travel to help keep track of children, especially if there is a risk of getting separated.
Consider apps like Life360 or Find My on iPhones. (Apps like Find My can also be useful in case children lose their devices!)
Parents can visit Snapchat's Family Center to learn more about individual differences an app's in privacy settings and location-sharing abilities.
See the Social Media Platform Glossary to learn more about individual differences in apps' privacy settings and location-sharing abilities.
Also check out this
blog post for a step-by-step guide on how to limit app-based and device-based location-sharing abilities on your child's iPhone.
Tech tips if you are planning a staycation
Define expectations
Determine which guidelines you will still prioritize and those you may allow to fluctuate during the break.
Guidelines that apply wherever you are
1. Consider participating in a family "tech vacation," a temporary break from using certain types of technology.
- Each family member can determine a specific aspect of their tech use they want to limit, and these limits can be big or small. For example, the individual may limit TikTok use to 30 minutes a day, or no social media use at all.
Beyond these limits, decide when, where, and how family members
can use technology during this break.
When: in the evening, after going outside, etc.
Where: in the car, on an airplane, etc.
How: with a sibling, only on certain platforms, etc.
Keep in mind the specifics such as what platforms you will or will not use, how much time you will spend, the time of day and how long the limits will be in place.
Encourage collaboration and allow youth the opportunity to identify how they might want to modify their tech use over the break
2. Plan a list of activities to enjoy screen-free time.
These activities may look different depending on the age of the child. For example, younger children may be interested in an arts & crafts project, while older teens may want to visit a friend's house.
Use this
guide from Healthychildren.org for screen-free activities centered around your child's specific interests.
3. Find entertaining ways to integrate tech use that don't distract from in-person family bonding time.
During outdoor activities, consider using astronomy apps, geocaching apps, or plant identification apps like PlantSnap.
Visit this
guide by Common Sense Media for a full list of app recommendations for youth ages 5-15.
Consider watching movies together, as a family, to promote bonding and discussions about media. See this article and use these
tips from Common Sense Media to make the most out of watching media together.
More information
Recommendations for activities during breaks
Other healthy tech use tips
About Dr. Moreno
 Megan A. Moreno, MD, MSEd, MPH, FAAP, is a Professor of Pediatrics and adjunct Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Moreno is Principal Investigator of the Social Media and Adolescent Health Research Team (SMAHRT); her research focuses on the intersection of technology and adolescent health. Dr. Moreno has authored more than 180 research articles, she was a lead author on the AAP policy statement "Media Use Among School-aged Children and Adolescents," and she is the Co-Medical Director for the AAP's Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health.
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