Experts Vote 8-0 Against Phones and Tablets in Children’s Bedrooms Overnight
Children and Screens Evidence Council cites sleep disruption, nighttime digital engagement, and children’s developing self-regulation among key concerns; one member abstains, emphasizing individual circumstances and legitimate nighttime uses.
Should children be allowed to keep smartphones and tablets in their bedrooms overnight? The Children and Screens Evidence Council voted decisively against the practice, with eight members voting no, none voting yes, and one abstaining.
Council members pointed to substantial concerns about the effects of nighttime device access on children’s sleep, including delayed bedtimes, disrupted sleep, notifications and compulsive checking. Members also raised concerns that extend beyond sleep, including nighttime exposure to inappropriate content, unhealthy digital engagement, and the challenge of expecting children and adolescents to self-regulate access to highly engaging devices.
The Council’s conclusion: Keeping handheld smart devices out of children’s bedrooms overnight is a practical step families can take to protect sleep, reduce nighttime digital distractions, and help young people develop healthier technology boundaries.
Why Nighttime Device Access Matters
Sleep plays a critical role in children’s physical health, learning, cognitive functioning, emotional regulation, and mental health. Yet phones and tablets can compete directly with the time and conditions children need for sufficient, restorative sleep.
Unlike many other nighttime distractions, smartphones and tablets provide continuous access to social media, games, entertainment, messaging, and other engaging content. Even when a device is not actively being used, notifications and the anticipation of incoming messages can make it harder to fully disconnect.
Several Council members also emphasized that children and adolescents are still developing the self-regulatory abilities needed to manage these competing demands independently.
“The science is clear that smart devices in bedrooms disrupt sleep, and as little as 10 minutes of additional sleep improves mental health and cognitive function in teenagers,” said Dimitri Christakis, MD, MPH, University of Washington and Children and Screens.
Key Considerations from the Evidence Council
While individual members emphasized different aspects of the issue, several themes emerged across their rationales:
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- Devices can delay, displace, and disrupt sleep. Access to smartphones and tablets can extend screen use into time otherwise available for sleep, while notifications, alerts, and device engagement can interfere with falling and staying asleep.
- Nighttime access creates more opportunities for compulsive checking and highly engaging screen use. Social media and other digital experiences can compete with both parental expectations and young people’s own efforts to disengage.
- Children and adolescents are still developing self-regulation. Expecting young people to consistently resist compelling digital experiences when a device is within reach may place substantial demands on still-developing self-control.
- The concerns extend beyond sleep. Nighttime device access may increase opportunities for exposure to inappropriate content or unhealthy online interactions at a time when young people may be more tired, impulsive, or less inhibited.
- Device-free bedrooms can help establish healthy boundaries. Creating physical separation from phones and tablets overnight can provide protected time for rest and disconnection and help young people establish habits they can carry into adulthood.
As Lauren Hale, PhD, of Stony Brook University explained:
“Keeping devices out of the bedroom protects more than just sleep, since it can reduce exposure to unhealthy engagement with screens at night, when youth are less inhibited and more impulsive.”
Desmond Patton, PhD, MSW, of the University of Pennsylvania, similarly emphasized the longer-term value of establishing boundaries:
“Parents should help young people build healthy tech boundaries that they can carry with them as they grow.”
Is There Room for Exceptions?
The Council vote also highlighted an important area of nuance.
Naomi Baron, PhD, of American University, abstained, arguing that a categorical yes-or-no answer may fail to account for differences among children, families, and the ways devices are being used.
“A categorical yes or no ignores differences between children and potential uses of digital tech after bedtime. ‘No’ for doomscrolling, but what about reading a novel in bed?”
Baron emphasized that, unlike school policies that must establish rules for large groups of children, families may be able to establish individualized expectations through trust, negotiation, and ongoing conversations about legitimate nighttime technology use.
Her abstention underscores an important distinction: the Council’s strong consensus against keeping phones and tablets in bedrooms overnight does not mean that every digital activity carries the same risks or that every child and family circumstance is identical.
What This Means for Families
The Council’s vote supports a straightforward default for families: keep phones and tablets out of children’s bedrooms overnight.
How families put that principle into practice may vary depending on a child’s age, developmental needs, household circumstances, and legitimate uses of technology. Establishing a consistent overnight charging location outside the bedroom, setting expectations together, and revisiting those expectations as children mature can help make the boundary both practical and sustainable.
The goal is not simply to restrict technology, but to protect the conditions children need for sleep, restoration, and healthy development while helping them gradually build the skills to manage technology independently.
No Council members voted “yes” in this decision.
Kelly Brownell, PhD
Duke University
“Phones and other devices with screens disrupt sleep. Sleep is especially important for youth as they are developing in cognitive, psychological, and physical realms. The alluring, if not addicting nature of social media can overwhelm parental requests to the child, along with children’s own self-control resources, and drive heavy use. Even in an ideal world where all content is positive, age-appropriate, and wholesome, sleep remains an issue.”
Dimitri Christakis, MD, MPH
University of Washington; Children and Screens
“The science is clear that smart devices in bedrooms disrupt sleep, and as little as 10 minutes of additional sleep improves mental health and cognitive function in teenagers.”
Lauren Hale, PhD
Stony Brook University
“Smartphones and tablets in the bedroom delay, displace, and disrupt sufficient restorative sleep. Keeping devices out of the bedroom protects more than just sleep, since it can reduce exposure to unhealthy engagement with screens at night, when youth are less inhibited and more impulsive. A screen-free bedroom can encourage healthier sleep habits, reduce nighttime distractions, and provide a safer environment for young people.”
Colleen Kraft, MD, MBA, FAAP
University of Southern California School of Medicine; Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
“Science tells us that blue light suppresses melatonin, shifting circadian phase by ~56 minutes in preschoolers after just 1 hour of exposure; notifications and alerts disrupt sleep cycles; teens who leave ringers on have significantly more trouble falling and staying asleep; and poor sleep promotes more screen use, which further worsens sleep. This is why the AAP specifically recommends no screens in the bedroom at night.”
Desmond Patton, PhD, MSW
University of Pennsylvania
“Parents should help young people build healthy tech boundaries that they can carry with them as they grow. Keeping phones and tablets out of the bedroom creates space for rest, sleep, and disconnection from technology at a time when all three are critically important.”
Marc Potenza, MD, PhD
Yale University
“Having digital devices in the bedroom may facilitate usage at night which may then interfere with sleep. Sleep disturbances have been associated with mental health concerns in a bidirectional fashion in developing children. Children typically have immature self-control systems to appropriately self-regulate usage of digital devices. Thus, removing digital devices from the bedroom is recommended.”
Ellen Wartella, PhD
Northwestern University
No rationale provided.
Paul Weigle, MD
UConn School of Medicine; Hartford Healthcare
“The costs to a health imposed by nighttime screen use, compulsive checking, increased arousal interfering with sleep onset leading to sleep deprivation, and exposure to inappropriate content far outweigh the potential benefits of convenience and autonomy.”
Naomi Baron, PhD
American University
“A categorical yes or no ignores differences between children and potential uses of digital tech after bedtime. “No” for doomscrolling, but what about reading a novel in bed? Of necessity, we make blanket choices for cohorts of children in school. In contrast, families are comprised of unique individuals, where, through trust, parents and kids can negotiate legitimate nighttime use. Admittedly, rules will sometimes be broken, but hopefully these become opportunities for conversation and growth.”
Meet the Evidence Council
The Children and Screens Evidence Council is composed of leading researchers and clinicians convened to provide clear, evidence-based guidance on some of the most urgent and debated questions surrounding children, adolescents, and digital media.
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