It is an undeniable fact that today’s teens love to socialize but, only through social networking sites. They feel hesitant in initiating a face-to-face conversation with other people whereas they add hundreds of people as friends on their social accounts. Undoubtedly, social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are the major reason of cell phone addiction in teenagers. The urgency to respond to a text message or to check notifications on social media apps shows the screen addiction in teenagers.
How Can You Get Your Teen Off Their Mobile Devices?
Worried about your teen’s excessive obsession with screens? Here are a few useful steps which you can follow to limit your teen’s usage of electronic gadgets:
1. Encourage Face-to-Face Socialization
Avoiding in-person interactions and preferring communication via texting have become a common practice among teenagers. As a parent, you need to make sure your child understands the importance of face-to-face conversations for strengthening their bond in any relationship. Encourage your teen to invite their friends over to spend time at your house so that they get to talk tom their friends without using their smartphones.
2. Find Resources for Children to Keep Them Busy
The more time your child has, the more addicted they become to screens. Keep your child busy. Encourage them to take part in noncircular activities such as swimming, drama classes, music or dance groups etc. Help them find their field of interests. You can even spend some quality time with them by working on different DIY projects together. By introducing new ways of keeping them busy, you can protect your teen from screen addiction.
3. Be a Role Model
Put your phone down and be attentive while talking to your teenager. If you check your cell phone during meals or receive calls while driving, you cannot expect your teenager to put their phone aside. Make sure you portray an ideal conduct to your teenagers related to the use of technology.
4. Set Ground Rules and Declare Consequences
Your teenager needs to realize that cellphone is just a privilege which can be taken away from them if they do not use it appropriately. Make “no cellphone rules” during meals, while driving and after midnight. Punish them accordingly if they don’t follow the declared rules.
How Can an App to Limit Screen Time Help Parents?
With the help of an app to limit screen time such as Family Time, parents can:
- Monitor the screen use of their kids such as their call logs, web history, sms history and much more
- Schedule an auto screen lock on teen’s device
- Lock their teen’s mobile device remotely from a distance anytime they want
Other than that, the FamilyTime app provides several unique features which you can see by getting the app on your device.
