5 Ways to Help Your Child Become Addiction Resistant to Their Smartphones

Every tool we use promises us something. Look around and find a product (or anything you spent money on): What does it promise? Now think about your phone (or more specifically, your kid’s phone)…what does it promise them?

Here are a few things your child’s phone might be promising them:

• Freedom

• Comfort

• Entertainment

• Community

• Autonomy

• Self-exploration & expression

• Escape

Our kids are the first generation to grow up in a digital world, and you are the first generation of parents to help them navigate the unknown. You have the privilege of walking with your child toward health and growth, helping them steward their attention wisely. Here are 5 tips that may help on this journey!

5 Ways to Help Your Child Become Addiction Resistant:

1. Encourage Self Evaluation

Help your kid figure out what they use their phone for and encourage them to come to their own conclusions. Here are a few questions to start with:

• What do you like about your phone?

• What do you dislike about your phone?

• What is your phone’s purpose?

• How much time do you think is healthy to spend on our phones each day?
  

2. Practice Emotional Intelligence

• Help your child develop the ability to understand WHY they are turning to their phone and to figure out what they are looking for.

• Have them pay attention to their emotional state whenever they’re on Instagram, TikTok, or Snapchat.

• Every time they unlock their phone, have them name one emotion that they're feeling. See if they notice any patterns. Are there certain emotional states that drive them to look at their phone more often? How do they feel after they’ve been on their phone?
  

3. Welcome Boredom

• Create tech-free zones with time set aside with nothing to do.

• Consider going for a walk, taking a drive, trying out a new recipe, playing a board game or completing a puzzle.
  

4. Embrace the Moment

Phones, and especially social media, promise that we can be in multiple places at once. But to be human is to be limited. We are always missing out on something, and in a way, this can be freeing! Teach your child to embrace the present moment.

5. Find Something Better

• Encourage your teen to be in pursuit of a meaningful life and to find something more inspiring and captivating to them than their phones.

• Help them to think about all the ways they want to spend their time (learning a new skill, playing sports, being with people they love, etc.) and then figure out where time on their phone fits into an intentional life.

Many of us struggle with overusing our smartphones, turning to them when we’re actually looking for something else. As we encourage our kids to evaluate their relationships with their phones, we should also take a closer look at our own habits with technology. Teens learn by watching us!

For smartphone/social media addiction concerns, click here.