How to Manage Your Child’s Addiction to Phone
The perpetual use of phones by children is disastrous. It comes with several adverse effects like reduced productivity and social anxiety. It is in your child’s benefit that you protect them from phone addiction.
Here is how to go about phone addiction in children;
Signs of Phone Addiction
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To help you manage your child’s addiction to phone, there are several symptoms to look out for. One of the most prevalent is the lack of sleep. Children addicted to phone tend to use the devices deep into the night that limits their sleep time.
A child who also finds it hard to maintain physical interactions compared to online communications is also a sign of addiction. Also notice a child’s reaction when you take the phone away. A child who becomes anxious, rebellious and unmanageable when you take away the phone is an indication of overreliance on the device.
Reasons for Phone Addiction
Like any other addictive substance, the main reason for phone addiction is the pleasure that comes with it. The use of the phone to access social media allows the child the joy of content that comes with a happy feeling. The more they use the phone, the more they get the feel-good effect thus can’t do away with the device.
The more the child uses the phone, it becomes an integral part of them and would not want to give it up. Missing the phone seems like losing a part of them. You can also contribute to the continued use of phones among children to the need to interact and to belong.
See: 10 best cell phones for kids under 10 dollars
Tips for Managing Phone Addiction
It is your role as a parent to help manage how the child interacts with the phone to avoid getting addicted. One of the easiest ways to reduce your child’s dependency on the mobile phone is by setting a time limit the child spends on the phone. Once you have the limits, the child would understand when to switch on and off the device, reducing the risk of addiction.
To reduce the urge of the kids spending more time on their devices, introduce several offline activities. Make interactive activities like playing board games and reading as exciting and involving as possible. You should also encourage play dates and other interactions among the kids in real life to help them avoid looking for virtual friends. Also, encourage the children to turn off notifications. As much as they have stopped using the phone within limits, it takes a single notification to get back for hours of social media use.
To effectively enforce the phone activity limits, use monitoring apps like mspy that allows you to control the content and the time the child spends on mobile.
Read Full Details: 10 Best Phone Monitoring Apps for Parents (Android & iOS)
Conclusion
Phone addiction, like addiction on any other substance, is harmful to your kid’s health. It reduces your child’s productivity and their ability to interact with others. Observe your child’s phone tendencies and put in place limits. Also, consider replacing the phone with other healthy regular activities. Once you show the kids they can spend quality time in the real world without a phone, they are likely to evade addiction.
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