How to Block Social Media During Homework Hours
By the Guardian-CORR Editorial Team
Use category rules plus a homework window so the feed goes dark from 4 to 6 — without touching the rest of the day.
Homework with TikTok one thumb-swipe away is not homework. The fix is not confiscating the phone — it is making the feed unavailable during the hours that matter.
Two levers, used together
Guardian-CORR gives you two clean tools: a category rule that blocks social media for a child's profile, and a schedule that applies rules only during a window. Used together, the feed is gone from 4 to 6 p.m. and back at dinner.
Step 1: Add the social media category
In the child's filtering rules, add the Social Media category to their blocked list. This covers the apps and the sites, on every device in their profile — not just the phone.
Step 2: Create the homework window
Rather than blocking social media all day, attach it to a schedule: a custom window from, say, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., weekdays only. During the window, the category is blocked; the rest of the day follows their normal profile. See how bedtime and custom schedules work for the mechanics.
Step 3: Handle the edge cases
- "I need it for a school project." True sometimes — and this is exactly what access requests are for. Your child taps Request Access on the block page, adds a note, and you approve for 15 minutes or an hour.
- Group chats. Messaging apps can sit in their own category — decide as a family whether the homework window covers them.
Why this beats confiscation
Confiscation punishes the phone; a window controls the distraction. The phone stays available for actual homework use, the rules apply evenly, and nobody has to police a desk drawer every afternoon.
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