Central Ohio District Launches ‘Press Pause’ to Reduce Children’s Screen Time
As the school year comes to a close and summer begins, Dublin City Schools is addressing the growing concern of increased screen time among children with a new initiative called Press Pause. The program is designed to support families by offering strategies to help balance digital use and protect children’s mental well-being.
Superintendent Dr. John Marschhausen explained that when parents are working and children are left alone during the day, the risk of excessive screen time rises. “We don’t want students sitting alone at home, staring at a screen for hours upon hours,” he said, noting that higher screen time often correlates with increased mental health risks for young people.
The Press Pause initiative will feature videos released twice a week that offer practical tips and guidance for parents. These videos aim to help families create healthier digital habits and encourage more face-to-face engagement.
Dawn Anderson Butcher, a social work professor at Ohio State University and a mother of a recent Dublin graduate, is one of the community voices supporting the campaign. She emphasized that while children often spend hours on their phones, that time could be better spent in other, more enriching environments.
Butcher also highlighted that too much time online can contribute to stress, anxiety, and social pressures. She noted that the recommended screen time for children is just two hours per day, though she acknowledged that most children exceed that.
“My charge as a parent is to take what is seven hours and move it to five,” she said. “Then get it to three. And the more we can reduce time spent in non-educational online spaces and replace it with positive experiences, the better for our children.”
The initiative encourages parents to understand how much time their children are spending on screens and what they’re doing during that time. Educating themselves about social media and fostering open conversations at home are key steps.
“For me, the definition of success for Press Pause will be if there are conversations in the home, around the dinner table, about what’s acceptable and what’s not,” said Dr. Marschhausen.
Importantly, the Press Pause resources are not limited to families in Dublin. The videos and tips are available to all parents through the school district’s social media channels, offering support to any family looking to find a healthier digital balance this summer.
