Sweden Updates Guidelines on Parental Phone Use Around Children

Sweden’s public health agency issued new guidelines on Monday that urge parents to put their phones away when spending time with children and to designate parts of the home as screen-free zones. The agency said parents should use phones only when needed or when sharing the device with a child. It added that adults who create good screen habits for themselves would influence children’s habits.

The recommendations follow research commissioned by Sweden’s government last autumn. The study found that parents’ screen use can negatively affect interactions with children and that children of heavy users tend to develop similar habits. “I don’t think people realise that [their screen use] affects children to the extent that we now know that it does,” Jakob Forssmed, minister of social affairs, told Swedish public broadcaster SVT.

The agency began recommending two years ago that parents reflect on the time they spent on smartphones around children. ” Sweden previously published guidelines limiting non-school-related screen time to none for children under two, one hour a day for ages two to five, two hours for ages six to 12, and three hours for ages 13 to 18.

The guidelines also advise keeping devices out of bedrooms at night and avoiding screens before bedtime.

Sweden is implementing a national school smartphone ban written into its Education Act. Mobile phones will be banned in schools for children up to grade nine from the start of the 2026-27 autumn term.