Practical tools for a healthier relationship with screens.
Free guides, agreements, and how-tos that help Truckee Tahoe families set up devices thoughtfully, talk about what's on the screen, and build routines that actually stick.
Healthy Screens Tahoe aims to support our community with tools to build balanced, developmentally appropriate technology habits. Through education and shared boundaries, we align homes, schools, and extracurriculars to protect our youth and restore personal agency in a digital world.
It isn't just about less screen time. It's about better screen time.
Sleep & mood
Putting screens away at night avoids the late-night use that disrupts kids' sleep cycles — and sleep is the foundation of mood, focus, and resilience.
Attention & learning
Intentional limits and honest conversations build the attention span that passive scrolling quietly erodes.
Confidence online
Kids who understand privacy, screen time, and digital footprints make safer calls when no one's watching.
Mental health
Teens with lower social media use face half the risk of depression and anxiety.
Movement & play
Less time on screens means more time playing, exploring, and being active.
Better communication
Kids build stronger communication skills while they're still developing them — and in-person time is where that practice happens.
Rules alone don't work. Routines do.
Most families don't need another app blocker — they need a plan the whole household actually agrees to. Our guides focus on conversations and habits, not just controls, so the routine outlasts the novelty of a new setting.
A library to grow into, not a to-do list.
This isn't something to finish in a week. Explore at your own pace, and come back whenever something's useful.
Understand why it matters
The Anxious Generation, plus TTUSD's own screentime data.
Find a routine that fits
Habits, agreements, and conversation guides for daily life.
Get your devices set up
Step-by-step guides for phones, controls, and safety settings.
The Anxious Generation
Haidt's four solutions: delay smartphones, delay social media, protect play, restore independence.
5 Strategies to Free the Anxious Generation
Know your job, strengthen your boundary muscle, take collective action.
Creating Healthy Digital Habits
Screen time by age, the "Big 4" priorities, and family tech rules that work.
Screen Time & Summer Boundaries
A family screen-time plan for summer break, by age group.
Build Your Family Tech Agreement
A ready-to-adapt agreement, plus a family code word idea.
Creating an Environment for Kids to Talk
How to open the door to real conversations about online life.
Family Device Agreement (Elementary)
Printable checklist from Common Sense Media & Aura Parents.
Dinner Table Discussions & Intention Setting
14 conversation starters plus a screen-time worksheet.
ScreenSense
Age-based guidelines, a tips blog, and a local phone-pact model.
Safety Settings & Controls
Step-by-step device setup for iOS, Android, Chromebook, and more.
Basic Phones for Kids
What to look for, plus recommended devices and pricing.
TTUSD Weekly Tech Tips for Parents
Bilingual weekly tips from our district Technology Director.
TTUSD Screentime @ School
The district's own transparency report on in-school device use.
Your Digital Safety Blueprint
TTUSD's "Swiss Cheese Model" of layered device defense.
These come straight from our local PITAS parent workshop series — new resources are added as sessions happen.
Request a TopicWait Until 8th — delay the smartphone, together.
Wait Until 8th is a national pledge that empowers parents to band together and hold off on giving kids a smartphone until at least the end of 8th grade. The pledge only activates once ten families from the same grade and school sign on — so no one family has to go first, and no kid feels like the only one without a phone.
"We do want them to be left out. We want them to be left out of all the negative impacts of social media." "A communal problem requires a communal solution."— Mark SooHoo, Wait Until 8th parent
199 pledges signed across the basin.
Wait Until 8th pledge counts by school, updated as families join. A grade activates once 10 families from that grade and school have signed on.
*Just joined: Kings Beach Elementary, ACMS PTO
Five steps to a healthier screen routine.
A realistic order of operations — not a strict rulebook. Start with step one this week.
Set a wake-up & wind-down window
No screens for the first 30 minutes after waking and the last 60 before bed.
Write it down together
Use the Family Screen Agreement so limits come from a shared conversation, not a surprise rule.
Charge devices outside the bedroom
A shared charging station removes the temptation to scroll after lights-out.
Talk about what, not just how much
Content and context matter as much as the clock — ask what they're watching and how it makes them feel.
Model it yourself
Kids mirror adult habits first. A visible family "phone-down" hour works better than any rule.
Growing across the basin, school by school.
Truckee Tahoe Healthy Screens is a new, parent-led initiative helping families navigate this new age of screens — through workshops, resources, and school-based efforts, with more added as we learn together.
We work directly with local PTOs and schools to bring these resources home. Here's who's involved today — and where we're headed next.
Currently Involved
Growing Our Reach
Want to bring this to your school?
If your PTO or school community wants to get involved, we'd love to talk.
