Rogers Bets $50M on Helping Canadian Kids Put Down Their Phones

Rogers has rolled out a new national initiative called Screen Break, putting $50 million on the table over five years to help families deal with how much time kids and teens spend on their phones.

The move follows new Rogers research that found youth aged 11 to 17 are spending about 5.2 hours a day on their phones. That is more than double the two-hour recreational screen time limit recommended by the Canadian Paediatric Society.

“Connectivity brings us together and it connects us to the world around us, but excessive screen time is a real concern for our customers,” said Tony Staffieri, president and CEO of Rogers.
Rogers says most parents see screen time as an issue, with nearly nine in 10 saying kids spend too much time on their phones. Teens do not see it the same way, with only about one in three saying their own screen use is a problem. Both parents and youth surveyed said telecom companies should be part of the solution.

The Screen Break program includes parental controls through Rogers apps, youth-focused initiatives tied to sports and physical activity, funding for youth organizations like the YMCA, and ongoing research work with The Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University.

To kick things off, Rogers is teaming up with athletes such as George Springer, Connor McDavid, John Tavares, Marie-Philip Poulin and Sarah Nurse to talk about screen time.

Rogers says the aim is to help young people build healthier screen habits without cutting them off from being connected.

There are way too many addictive apps stacked on top of basic messaging now, all perfectly engineered to keep kids stuck to their phones. Sometimes it feels like we need to bring back the old 100MB data plans just to scare them straight, though let’s be honest, parents would be the ones eating the overage charges.