Own Your Screen

With 95% of American teenagers owning a smartphone, parents, teachers and clinicians face an overwhelming flood of conflicting, and often bad, advice on screen time and digital safety. To create a trusted standard, the Hassenfeld Child Health Innovation Institute at the Brown University School of Public Health launched Own Your Screen, led by Drs. Caroline Kistin and Michael Silverstein with Elizabeth Burke Bryant and Jacqueline Nesi.

Rather than static advice, Own Your Screen is a website that operates as a continually updated review of digital health strategies. Supported by Brown’s Center for Evidence Synthesis and Health, an expert recommendation panel and active input from parents and teens, the initiative systematically evaluates interventions and translates complex data into clear, conflict-of-interest-free guidelines. It gives families and decision-makers proven tools to help children navigate social media and AI safely.