FOX 5 Atlanta: teens spend nearly 1 hour

FOX 5 Atlanta reported on May 20 that a new study found U.S. teenagers are spending close to an hour on their phones during overnight hours before school. The station said teens ages 13 to 18 averaged 50.1 minutes of phone use between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. on school nights, a window that overlaps with time many adolescents should be sleeping. The report said the late-night use included social media, streaming videos and games. The finding adds a concrete number to a broader concern around phones, bedtime routines and lost sleep. ### How much phone use did the study actually measure? The study figure cited by FOX 5 Atlanta was 50.1 minutes, measured between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. on school nights for teens ages 13 to 18. That is not all-day screen time; it is a late-night slice of phone use, which the station described as time spent checking social media, watching videos, playing games and doing other activities on phones. (fox5atlanta.com) The 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. window matters because it captures hours that often compete directly with sleep before the next school day. FOX 5 Atlanta framed the result as a study of behavior during the overnight period rather than a general estimate of teen media habits. ### Why is the overnight window getting attention? (fox5atlanta.com) The American Academy of Pediatrics has updated its guidance around digital media by steering families toward a personalized Family Media Plan rather than a single universal time cap. The academy says children and adolescents use digital media frequently and recommends plans that set expectations around when, where and how devices are used. (fox5atlanta.com) HealthyChildren.org, the AAP’s public-facing site, says the Family Media Plan is designed to help families create screen-free times and screen-free zones. That makes the late-night school-night window a practical target for parents who want rules tied to bedtime rather than to total daily use alone. ### What does this report say teens are doing on their phones? (publications.aap.org) FOX 5 Atlanta said the overnight phone use included social media, video streaming, games and other routine smartphone activity. The station did not present the figure as one app-specific problem; it described a mix of common phone behaviors filling time late at night. (healthychildren.org) That distinction matters because the report points to timing as much as content. The AAP’s updated media guidance discusses digital media in broad terms and focuses on family routines, sleep, mental health, physical activity and household boundaries rather than singling out one platform. ### What are parents and families being told to do? (fox5atlanta.com) The American Academy of Pediatrics directs families to use its Family Media Plan tool to set household rules. The tool is intended to help parents decide on screen-free times, screen-free areas and shared expectations for device use. The guidance does not turn on one fixed nightly cutoff in the materials reviewed here. (publications.aap.org) Instead, it gives families a framework to decide where phones belong, when they should be put away and how media use fits around sleep, school and other routines. ### Where can readers find the next step? FOX 5 Atlanta published its report on May 20, and the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Family Media Plan is available through HealthyChildren.org and in Pediatrics. (healthychildren.org) Those two sources give readers both the study takeaway and the family guidance referenced alongside it. (fox5atlanta.com) (publications.aap.org)