--- title: Cell Phones and Tablets are Keeping Kids Awake at Night description: Cell phones, tablets and computers are keeping children awake at night - even when they're not being used, new research has found canonical: https://time.com/4553144/cell-phones-tablets-kids-sleep/ author: Kate Samuelson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-01T15:11:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T10:21:23.074Z article:section: Health og:title: Kids Are Being Kept Awake by Their Phones—Even When They're Not Using Them og:description: Phones keep children awake, researchers found og:url: https://time.com/4553144/cell-phones-tablets-kids-sleep/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kids Are Being Kept Awake by Their Phones—Even When They're Not Using Them twitter:description: Phones keep children awake, researchers found twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Kids Are Being Kept Awake by Their Phones Even When They're Not Using Them > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Nov 1, 2016 3:11 PM UTC by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Nov 1, 2016 3:11 PM UTC Cell phones, tablets and computers are keeping children and teenagers [awake at night](http://time.com/4282023/this-is-what-happens-to-your-brain-on-no-sleep/)—even when they’re not being used, new research has found. The paper, published Monday in [_JAMA Pediatrics_](http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2571467), found that media devices are contributing to [reduced sleep quality](http://time.com/4358710/sleep-loss-heart-health/) and quantity, as well as trouble staying awake the next day. According to the study, 72% of all children and 89% of adolescents have at least one device in their sleep environment, with most of them used near bedtime. After analyzing hundreds of relevant studies of children and teens aged 6-19, the researchers, led by Dr. Ben Carter, a senior lecturer in biostatistics at King’s College London, found a “strong and consistent association” between the use of technology at bedtime and poor sleeping. Carter and his colleagues also found that such devices adversely affect sleep even when they are not being used, as their content can be psychologically stimulating and the light they emit can affect the body’s natural timing and alertness. The harmful association between screen-based devices and children’s and adolescents’ sleep is “a major public health concern,” the paper concludes. “It is imperative that teachers, health care professionals, parents, and children are educated about the damaging influence of device use on sleep.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4553144/cell-phones-tablets-kids-sleep/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4553144/cell-phones-tablets-kids-sleep/"},"headline":"Kids Are Being Kept Awake by Their Phones Even When They're Not Using Them","datePublished":"2016-11-01T15:11:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:21:23.074Z","description":"72% of all children have at least one device in their bedroom","url":"https://time.com/4553144/cell-phones-tablets-kids-sleep/","keywords":["Sleep"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kate Samuelson","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/sleep/","name":"Sleep"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4553144/cell-phones-tablets-kids-sleep/","name":"Kids Are Being Kept Awake by Their Phones Even When They're Not Using Them"}}]}] ```