I have had to restrict screen time. I avoid advertising like the plague, so we didn't watch cable for most of my children's lives. When we did, we chose in advance what to watch and turned the TV off when it was done. Make it intentional. For computer time, each child got a half hour. Of course they all gathered around to watch and to give input; they're learning together that way. It's also learning taking turns, getting off when your time ends, and how to work together, how to get along with other people cheerfully. I didn't mind them watching each other play, as long as they got their own chores done and were polite and helpful, not crabby, not bullying. My children didn't get their own phones until they were teens. For children now, I would put the same time limits on that I used for the computer before, or possibly limit it even more. The thing is, they're going to be surrounded by screens all their lives; they need to learn what it is, how it works, and how to discipline themselves by getting in the habit of getting off to do other things. For myself now, when I'm playing a phone game, I get off when the game reaches an advertisement, or when it runs out of energy/coins/whatever. That's not the time to pay money; that's the time to GET OFF. :D

I say that, and then I go read an educational article or the news, or listen to a Youtube video on history or science while I’m washing the dishes…