{"id":253,"date":"2025-09-08T18:31:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T18:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/good-worldwide.go-vip.net\/upworthy\/2025\/09\/08\/teens-and-screntime-ex1\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T18:31:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T18:31:00","slug":"teens-and-screntime-ex1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/2025\/09\/08\/teens-and-screntime-ex1\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech expert shares the one message that actually convinces teens to reconsider their screentime"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a 2023 TEDx Talk <\/u><\/a>at Laguna Blanca School, Dino Ambrosi made a startling revelation that perfectly underlines the big question of the smartphone<\/u><\/a> era: What is my time worth? Ambrosi is the founder of Project Reboot <\/u><\/a>and an expert at guiding teens<\/a> and young adults to develop more empowering relationships with technology.<\/p>

Assuming the average person now lives to 90, after calculating the average time they spend sleeping<\/a>, going to school<\/a>, working, cooking, eating, doing chores, sleeping, and taking care of personal hygiene<\/a>, today\u2019s 18-year-olds have only 334 months of their adult lives to themselves.<\/p>

“How you spend this time will determine the quality of your life,\u201d Ambrosi says. However, given the tech habits of today\u2019s young people, most of those months will be spent staring at screens, leaving them with just 32 months to leave their mark on the world. “Today, the average 18-year-old in the United States is on pace to spend 93% of their remaining free time looking at a screen,\u201d Ambrosi says.<\/p>


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An 18-year-olds remaining time, in months. via TEDx<\/figcaption><\/figure> <\/p>

The idea that an entire generation will spend most of their free time in front of screens is chilling. However, the message has a silver lining. Sharing this information with young people can immediately impact how they spend their time.<\/p>

How to get teens to reduce their screentime<\/h2>

Ambrosi says his work with Project Reboot through on-campus initiatives, school assemblies, and parent workshops has taught him that teens are more concerned about time wasted on their phones than the damage it may do to their mental health. Knowing the topic that resonates can open the door for an effective dialogue about a topic that\u2019s hard for many young people to discuss. When teens realize they are giving their entire lives away for free, they are more apt to reconsider their relationship with smartphones.<\/p>

\u201cI actually don’t get through to a lot of teens, as well as when I help them realize the value of their time and then highlight the fact that that time is being stolen from them,\u201d Ambrosi told Upworthy.<\/p>

A Common Sense Media<\/u><\/a> study shows that the average 13 to 18-year-old, as of 2021, spent an average of 8 hours and 39 minutes a day on entertainment screentime.<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s important to get them to view time as their most valuable resource that they can use to invest in themselves or enjoy life and tick the boxes on their bucket list. I really want them to see that that’s something they should take control of and prioritize because we’re all under the impression that social media is free, but it’s actually not free. We just pay for it with our time.\u201d<\/p>

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Dino Ambrosi speaks at a school assembly. via Dino Ambrosi (used with permission)<\/figcaption><\/figure> <\/p>


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Ambrosi believes that young people are less likely to hand their time to tech companies for free when they understand its value. \u201cI find that kids really respond to that message because nobody wants to feel manipulated, right? And giving them that sense of being wronged, which I think they have been, by tech companies that are off operating on business models that are not aligned with their well-being, is important.\u201d<\/p>

His approach to getting teens to rethink their smartphone use is similar to that of the Truth Initiative<\/a> in that it educates young people about the nefarious tactics big tobacco companies used to lure and addict young people. In a way, big tech companies are doing the same thing by luring young people to their products by connecting them to their friends and influencers while providing a product that rearranges their brain chemistry. <\/p>

He also believes parents should be sympathetic and nonjudgmental when talking to young people about screentime because it\u2019s a struggle that just about everyone faces and feels shame about. A little understanding will prevent them from shutting down the conversation altogether.<\/p>

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