BE THE PARENT, PLEASE

Parents are getting it from all sides. From technology companies that want to sell them the latest gadgets, to teachers who want all homework and even classwork done on iPads, to a culture that wants everyone to be a star in their own reality show, the forces pushing mothers and fathers to hand over screens can seem insurmountable.

We don't know yet what the long-term effects of kids spending half their waking hours on a screen might be. But if we're honest with ourselves, we know the short-term ones. We know that they are distracted from school work, that they are less interested in interacting with other people, that they are more sedentary and overweight, that they are easily bored and often cranky, that they are sleep-deprived, obsessed with their appearances, and incessantly anxious about what might be going on in the few moments of the day when they don't have screens. It's time to acknowledge that the only way to fix this problem is by putting the brakes on screen time in our homes.

Naomi Schaefer Riley is a weekly columnist for the New York Post and a former Wall Street Journal editor and writer whose work focuses on higher education, religion, philanthropy and culture. She is the author of six books. Ms. Riley's writings have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the LA Times, and the Washington Post, among other publications. She appears regularly on Fox News and Fox Business and CNBC.