27 Tips on How to keep a child away from mobile phones
Proud of your five year old munchkin able to open a YouTube video or download a game from the App store?
Now come on! Do not try to hide that proud feeling!
Also, does your kid throw tantrums if denied access to screen time?
If yes, then this is just the start of what is going to unfold in the future if their screen time is not monitored effectively!
Smartphone – A new under-estimated addiction
With ever-developing pace and technology, mobile phone addiction has become a new normal in today’s world. It is estimated that we pick up our mobile phones at least 80 times a day.
With the growing workforce in today’s time, parents are usually occupied with their work, thus battling a very hectic work schedule. Focusing on the children’s overall development thus becomes a challenge. This pushes them to distract their kids with smart devices to keep them busy.
Studies direct that almost 95.5% kids in the age group of 3 -5 have access to smartphones.
Recent statistics quote that by age 8, 11, and 13 to 17 approximately 20%, 53% and 95% of children respectively own a smartphone device.
Why is it essential to stop child phone addiction?
Increased use of Smartphones causes a detrimental effect on the mental, emotional, social and physical health of children. Their most ripe years for development are taken over by a life-threatening addiction.
Therefore, it is very essential to reduce the screen time for kids and divert their dopamine thirst with some other similar non-screen dopamine generating activities.
II. Understanding Child Phone Addiction
Do you know your emotions change every time you scroll a reel, ranging between anger, sadness, jealousy, happiness or FOMO, thus leaving no room to absorb one particular emotion.
This hampers children’s emotional and social development.
Causes of Phone addiction in children
Mindless scrolling releases dopamine in our minds, which is stimulated by the variety of content we see on the screen. This dopamine hunger for more creates a pleasure loop, thus leading to addiction.
Similar is the case with kids. The major reason behind their addiction is BATS!
B – Boredom: This happens when the child is addicted to a smartphone or has no one else to play with. However, boredom breeds creativity.
Therefore, it is essential to give space to your kids to be bored, for them to start thinking out of the box. This enhances their mental development.
If they were distracted with the screen time every time they are bored, it would restrict their creative and mental development.
A – Attention Deficit: This might be due to two reasons, that is, either the parents are busy or the child is craving their attention or a Smartphone addiction leading to ADHD!
T - Technology Dependence: We have become the slaves of technology and our children are on their way to becoming one.
S – Social influence: Studies show that almost 83% of teenagers use their phone to stay in touch with others while 84% teens use it to learn something new.
Peer pressure also plays a huge role in developing the addiction. This especially happens during the teenage years when the kids are constantly seeking validation and independence.
Signs of phone addiction in children
There are various signs that show phone addiction in children like:
1. Ignoring others' speech and living in their virtual world.
2. Avoiding studies, sports, and other social activities just to spend some extra time on their smartphone.
3. Throwing tantrums when they are denied the access of smartphones.
4. Always talking about what they have seen online.
5. Always reaching out for their smartphone when idle.
6. Avoiding real conversations with people.
7. Endless playing of video games and mindless scrolling of the internet.
Side effects of phone addiction
Children often access their smartphones less than an hour a day but the accessibility increases at least 5 times a week. There are various side effects of phone addiction in children including:
- Behavioral issues
- Neurological disability
- Temper tantrums
- Sleep cycle disruptions
- ADHD
- Under confidence
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Jealousy
Hence, it is important to track their screen time before things get out of hand.
II.Setting Boundaries and Limits
Now-a-day screen time has become an intricate part of education and nearly 60% of teens access smart devices to complete their homework.
This also raises their possibility to multitask by distracting themselves into some other unproductive screen activities while studying.
Although, we cannot deprive them of the smart devices but can always limit their usage for their healthy development.
If you are willing to be parenting and not just mothering or fathering, this is a must read for how to stop child phone addiction:
1. Establish clear screen time rules by restricting the time slot for the smart device access and making it clear for them to only access it in the presence of someone and in the common space to keep an eye on their virtual activity.
2. Create tech-free zones at home
It is researched that the most screen time usually happens during the non-screen time activities like house or office chores, dining, socializing, cooking, etc.
Hence, it is important to have no-phone zones at home like in the bedroom, dining, and even in public places to let your kid observe, explore and learn about the real world.
Try communicating with them about their day and always be mindful about your response. Remember, they are just kids.
3. Take away phones at night
This is one of the most important tips on how to get rid of mobile addiction from kids and save their lives.
The blue light from the smart device decreases the melatonin levels in the body, thus disturbing the sleep cycle.
Irregular sleep leads to hampering their academic performance by decreasing their concentration levels, leading to anxiety, depression, anti-social behavior and temperamental issues.
4. Maintain a strict Smartphone schedule
The best way to make children listen is by making it fun.
Tell them about the 2:2:1 rule, that is 2 hours of studying, followed by 2 hours of sports and then 1 hour of screen activity. Make sure to be consistent with it.
IV. Encouraging Alternative Activities
Here is a list of alternative ways of how to keep away child from mobile phones:
5. Promote outdoor play and physical activities like playing badminton, paintballs, yoga, swimming, or going out on picnics with them.
6. Introduce engaging indoor hobbies like baking, DIY projects, storytelling sessions, reading, drawing, painting, puzzle solving etc.
Make it fun and happening by providing them a no-phone room or a corner with a wall-of-creativity in your home space to explore their creative side.
7. Get them involved in family activities after dinner time like conversing about important happenings in the world and asking them about their opinions, playing cards and board games etc.
8. Indulge them in activity-based learning like make a to-do-list for the entire week and stick it on the refrigerator.
Every time they accomplish a target, give them a sticker and inform them they would be rewarded with one hour of screen time if they get these many stickers.
V. Effective Communication Strategies
Communication is the key to all the worries but it is important that you listen and comprehend their point of view to make them understand yours.
9. Talk to your child about the dangers of addiction by showing them videos about examples of dangers of addiction in kids.
10. Encourage face-to-face communication to prevent them from isolation and getting lost in the virtual world.
11. Help them find other things to do when bored like cycling, dancing, cooking, origami, playing instruments, singing or joining any extra-curricular activity of their choice.
12. Bond with your child through meaningful conversations by talking about your life experiences and asking them what they desire to become in the future and what their plans are for the weekend or where they would like to go for a mini adventure hunt.
Consistency would always keep them excited for non-screen time activities.
VI. Parental Involvement and Supervision
This is important as it is the parents who hold the responsibility for their kids' proper nurturing.
13. Set a good example by limiting your own screen time
Parents usually underestimate their influence on kids. The first step is to become their role model and let them learn by observing you. Make sure you:
1. Stay away from Smartphones at least for an hour after you wake up.
2. Do not use the Smartphone just because you are bored.
3. Do not sit with screen time just after you have returned home.
4. Use it only when it is necessary and just for an hour or two for your own pleasure.
We all know that kids are the best salesmen and therefore, it is essential for you to stick to your consistent words and actions.
14. Use parental controls effectively by changing the screen to grayscale mode or locking certain apps to make the kids uninterested in monochrome screens, especially if they demand excess screen time.
This is the best opportunity to direct them to indulge in some other fun activities.
15. Create a family media plan by allotting a fixed schedule for co-screen time with your kids or movie time once a week of their choice.
VII. Balancing Real Life with Cell Phone Use
This is a key step to keep the kids in sync with the real life situations.
16. Prioritize non-digital activities like having a house party for kids once in a month with different painting, origami, cooking or dancing competitions with no phones allowed.
Take your kids out in nature and quiz them about various species.
17. Encourage playtime and creativity in them by being a part and teaching them about science with different DIY experiments, making structure from Legos, cards and dominos.
18. Say no to technology as an emotional pacifier whenever possible to prevent the harmful effect of screen time on children’s development.
19. Avoid Smartphone use while traveling and indulge in fun activities with them like singing, playing country and capital, or quizzing them about “How do rainbows form?”, “why do we experience day and night?” etc.
VIII. Additional Strategies for Success
To ensure optimum utilization of time, it is also very important to:
20. Use break times effectively by giving them a book to read for a month and tell them to finish it by reading at least two pages daily during their free time or make them listen to an audio book and ask them to summarize it.
This would help them to learn something new every day and also increase their memory retention and concentration with time.
21. Don't use smartphones as rewards or distractions and make sure your child follows it too.
Set an example for them that you only access the smart device for something important and not otherwise.
22. Set passwords on devices to restrict your child from accessing unproductive websites and apps and ensure you do not give away in response to their constant tantrums.
23. Choose mobile phones with low radiation levels to avoid near eye sightedness and various other corneal issues due to excessive screen usage.
IX. Seeking Support and Staying Committed
This encompasses an important step in stopping child phone addiction:
24. Be patient with the process because nurturing children demands patience and trust. Be persistent in your instructions but avoid shouting or scolding them.
25. Seek professional help if necessary because mobile phone addiction impacts the brain in a similar way as addiction to drugs, sex or food. So, it should not be ignored.
26. Build a support network with other parents by having a community group.
You can also join R for Rabbit’s Whatsapp community group of parents to have an enhanced parenting guidance and experience from different experts.
27. Most importantly, DO NOT GIVE UP as they are kids and taming them requires patience.
Conclusion
Smartphone addiction is increasing at an alarming rate among adults and therefore, it is important to first be the change you want to see in your kids.
Children are unaware about a lot of things and therefore, require a calm approach.
Also, rather than scolding or punishing them, tell them “why” and show them the videos of the effects of mobile phone addiction. This would scare them and follow in your footsteps with time.
Adapt a proactive approach and follow these easy tips to stop the child phone addiction.
Children are the future and hence, it is our responsibility to play an important role in parenting for their overall development.