If you’ve ever handed your child a phone just to get five minutes of quiet, and then felt a small knot of guilt about it, that instinct that something’s off isn’t in your head.
This week, that feeling got some legal backing.
A judge in New Mexico ruled that Facebook and Instagram are a “public nuisance” to children, ordering parent company Meta to pay nearly $942 million. A jury and judge found that the platforms knowingly harmed young people’s mental health.
Utah has a nearly identical case working its way through the courts, and legal analysts say the New Mexico ruling could shape exactly how it plays out here.
Why This Hits Different for Utah Parents
For years, parents have been told the same thing: set some screen time limits and you’ll be fine.
But this ruling confirms something I hear from parents all the time: the difficulty isn’t just about willpower or discipline.
These platforms were built to be hard to put down, for kids and adults alike. And kids are getting handed devices, and getting on these platforms, younger and younger every year.
That’s not a parenting failure. That’s a design problem, and now, a legal one too.
My Take
I was recently asked to weigh in on this for KSL News, talking about what this ruling means for the families I work with here in Provo.
My take wasn’t about fear or banning screens altogether. It was about something more sustainable:
"We can learn how to be with screens without them running our lives."
That’s the heart of how I approach this with the families I work with. Not “get rid of the phone.” Not “just say no.”
Instead: build the skills and structure so your child (and honestly, you too) can have a healthy relationship with technology. One where the screen is a tool, not the one calling the shots.
Where to Start This Week
If this ruling has you rethinking your family’s screen habits, here are three places I always start:
- Get curious before you get strict. Ask your child what they actually do online and who they talk to. Understanding comes before rules that stick.
- Set the boundary together, not just for them. Kids push back less against limits they helped shape. Even young kids can weigh in on “phone-free at dinner” or “no screens after 8.”
- Watch your own habits too. Kids notice when the rules for them don’t apply to us. Small, visible changes from parents go a long way.
None of this fixes years of platform design built to hook attention. But it does put you and your child back in charge of the relationship with screens, instead of the other way around.
If mealtime battles over devices, meltdowns when the screen gets taken away, or that nagging sense that something’s shifted in your child since the phone showed up sound familiar, this is exactly the kind of thing my team and I help families work through every day.
Schedule an appointment with Power Within Child Therapists and let’s build a plan that fits your family. Not a one-size-fits-all screen time chart, but real tools for real life.
