Jessica Alba Reveals Her Brilliant Strategy to Get Teens Off Their Devices

It seems like parents are (understandably) fighting a constant battle with their kids to get them off their devices and limit screen time. And the key word is “fight.” Because kids—especially teens who have been sucked into the world of social media—will fight, fight, fight, no matter how hard a parent or guardian tries to enforce screen time rules.

Jessica Alba blew us away when she revealed her unique and brilliant plan to get her oldest daughter Honor, 16, to put down her iPad. Speaking at an event announcing the launch of more restrictive Instagram accounts for teens, the actress described how she dealt with Honor, then 10, downloading a game she didn’t think was age-appropriate.

“I told Honor, ‘I can choose your punishment, or you can choose your punishment.'”

Honor chose the first option, fearing that the punishment for her mother would be terrible. But in reality, the then teenager made things worse for herself. She decided that she should not be allowed to use the iPad until Christmas… in three months! Which is way longer than Alba would suggest.

*Jaw drops*

Seriously?! The kid chooses the harsher punishment thinking he can get away with it easily? Is that true in every case? Of course not to want that’s a reason to test it, but if this were to happen, we’re dying to know if it’s widespread.

After three months had passed, Alba — who also has children Haven, 13, and Hayes, seven, with her husband Cash Warren — went to return the Honor device, but the teenager made a shocking move.

“(She said) ‘Maybe I’ll just hold out a little longer,’ and she held out another three months (without it),” Alba said. “So Honor learned self-regulation early on and said she liked herself more.”

It’s an incredible story, especially since a growing body of research suggests that screen and social media use is damaging young girls’ self-esteem.

Jessica Alba Speaks at Meta Event Launching New Teen Instagram Accounts
Courtesy of Meta

This major parenting victory happened before Honor joined social media. When she joined, Alba monitored her daughter’s account, unfollowing people she “thought were problematic” and following “a group of people she thought were great for her.”

“It’s always like a collection of body-positive and animal accounts,” Alba explained. “… Just things on her feed that really bring more joy, like inspirational quotes, science stuff.”

“That way the algorithm gets tricked and ends up with more of that stuff than just Get Ready With Me videos or fashion tips or whatever,” she added.

With Instagram’s new teen accounts — which are available now for new users and will roll out to current teen users in the U.S. over the next 60 days — parents will have similar controls. Accounts are automatically set to private so users must accept all followers (reducing the risk of connecting with “problem” people), the app will go into “sleep mode” from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. so users won’t be scrolling at 2 a.m., and they’ll have an easier time managing their feed with an Interests feature that lets teens tell the app they want to see content about music, sports, and more.

Parental controls allow parents to monitor their child’s interests and other app usage. Users aged 16 and younger will need parental consent through Instagram to change any of the more restrictive Teen account settings.

“I really like this design because it encourages teens to engage you as a parent in their use of Instagram,” said Naomi Gleit, head of product at Meta, speaking at the launch event.

Before you go out, check your children’s technology policies.