What can we do to make our child put down their phone for a while?
Although our children’s constant messaging with their friends is annoying, it has become a normal part of their lives. Staying connected with friends is important for teenagers and young people. We parents ourselves used to talk on the phone with our friends for hours when we were young. Today, this exact connection takes place through messaging apps. However, if mobile phone usage takes place during family time, homework time, or other responsibilities, we must help our children manage their phone usage time.
Solutions to help children manage mobile phone usage time:
1. Help your children arrange in-person and face-to-face conversations: Also, they should not use their phones during important conversation times such as mealtime or inside the car.
2. Start with yourself first: No matter how much you advise your child, if you yourself are constantly working with your mobile phone and even prefer using your phone at parties instead of chatting with others, your child will not listen to your advice either. So as a child’s father or mother, reduce your phone usage time and instead chat, exercise, read books, etc.
3. Model the behaviors you expect to see from your child: Refrain from texting inside the car so they can also see and learn. And when you use your mobile phone, for example inside the car, explain the type of your usage (for example, say “I am finding the party route on the mobile map”). Thus, children understand your mobile phone usage. If you ever need to leave family moments for a few moments to answer your phone, make sure to apologize to your children for doing so.
4. Replace mobile phones with exciting recreations: Children usually turn to mobile phones because of loneliness and lack of proper recreation. So if you spend more time with your child, play funny and exciting games with them, and occasionally take them out for a stroll, they certainly won’t need to use the phone constantly.
5. Be popular parents to your children: The more appropriate and better your behavior towards your children is (not to the extent that they become spoiled!), the more popular you will be with them, and consequently, your children will certainly accompany you better in following established rules.
6. Charge your children’s mobile phones in your own room: Not leaving phones in children’s bedrooms at bedtime gives them a breathing space. By doing this, you also reduce the side effects of sleep disorders resulting from using phones in bed for your children.
7. Think of measures for children’s problematic phone usage: If your children have trouble putting down their phone and are always busy working with a mobile phone, you can limit their time and usage. Some wireless devices have parental control features through which you can set limits on internet usage time. There are also a series of applications that stop your child’s phone as soon as the set limit is reached.