Phone-free sleep
Charge devices outside the bedroom. Even one hour earlier 'sleep onset' improves next-day mood.
Screen Time
Recreational screen use and digital wellbeing
Six new PAYS 2025 items measure phone access, social media accounts, gaming hours, total device hours, and parental rules around screens.
267,379 students · official baseline
Total non-school device time per school day
Hours per school day, all grades
Total electronic device use, not including schoolwork
n = 267,3792025% of students
Source: 2025 PAYS statewide
Heavy use is the new normal
More than 1 in 3 students log 4+ hours of recreational screens on a typical school day — and only 1 in 14 reports none.
Rules fade as students get older
61% of 12th graders say parents 'never' enforce screen-time rules, vs. 18% in 6th grade. The window to set norms is early.
Heavy use (4+ hrs/day) by grade and activity
Percent at 4+ hours per school day
Social media, gaming, and total device time
n = 267,3792025% at 4+ hrs/day
Source: 2025 PAYS statewide
Conversation starters for parents and educators
Notification hygiene
Turn off non-human notifications. Students cite alerts as the top reason for interrupted homework.
Co-watching, not just policing
Watching short-video feeds with a teen surfaces algorithmic harms parents may not see solo.
Subgroup spotlight
Heavy non-school screen use (4+ hours/day) is not evenly spread across grades or activities.
12th graders
48.2%
4+ hours/day non-school screen time vs. 36.3% all-grade
Girls, social media
31.7%
4+ hours/day vs. 19.4% of boys
Heavy users (any kind)
1.9×
More likely to report 2+ weeks of sadness
Subgroup cells with n < 30 are suppressed. See methodology.