Safety & Design
Digital wellbeing
A healthy relationship with technology that supports sleep, relationships, learning, and mental health, rather than crowding those parts of life out.
- Parents
- Educators and school leaders
What parents should know
Digital wellbeing means technology has a place and does not take over sleep, friendships, school, or mood. It is not a pledge to quit screens. It is a check on whether the tools in the house leave room for the rest of a child's life.
On this page
What is digital wellbeing?
The idea shows up in phone settings and in school programs. Notifications, autoplay, and a chat that never quite ends are the design side. Bedtime, exercise, and a person to talk to are the life side. Wellbeing is the fit between them. A child can use AI for a project and still be fine. A child who only talks to a chatbot about feelings needs a person in the loop.
The American Academy of Pediatrics frames family media use around sleep, the type of content, and shared attention, not around shame. That is the tone of this page.
Why digital wellbeing matters
Teens will not accept a lecture that all screen use is damage. They will notice if an app is built to keep them. You can agree on sleep and on which chats a parent can read without turning the phone into a moral scoreboard.
If use starts to look like distress, treat that as distress. 988 is available in the United States. HeyOtto shows crisis resources and alerts a parent. It is not therapy.
How it shows up in practice
- Phones charge outside bedrooms on school nights.
- A child makes something and then stops, because the task had an end.
- A parent notices a companion-style app with no transcript and asks about it.
- Mood and sleep are part of the conversation, not only the weekly screen report.
How HeyOtto helps
Digital wellbeing means technology leaves room for sleep, school, and people. HeyOtto is not a wellbeing score and is not built to stretch a session for its own sake. A parent can read the chats and set topic limits. There are no ads.
- Parents can read the chats.
- Topic limits and tool permissions are per child.
- Under 13, verifiable parental consent is part of setup.
For families
Try freeFAQs
Is digital wellbeing the same as less screen time?
Less is sometimes right, especially near sleep. The type of use matters too. Creating and homework are not the same hour as an endless feed.
What if my child seems low after using a chatbot?
Take it seriously. Read the chat if you can. Talk with them. If it is a crisis, use 988 or emergency services. Do not leave a chatbot as the only listener.
Does HeyOtto track a wellbeing score?
No score is described here. Parents get the transcript, topic limits, and alerts. You interpret how your child is doing.
Sources
Last reviewed September 26, 2026. This entry is reviewed twice a year.