It is really sad to see something like small screen addiction tearing families apart but it is coming to my attention that this is happening more and more.
SMALL SCREEN ADDICTION
There are legitimate articles ( See health Impact news) that explain the dopamine-serotonin connection and how some addictive apps alter these hormones in the brain creating small screen addictions that are just as powerful as drug, alcohol, pornography, and sugar addictions.
Late-night use has been linked to depression, anxiety, lower school grades and increased body fat because a deficit of sleep seems to alter hunger hormones.”
If your child like many others spends a lot of time on the small screen you still may have time to stop it become an addiction. It is very important to lay down the ground rules and to stick to them. Unfortunately small screens, phones, games etc are very convenient babysitters.
Write down what you think are reasonable parameters for your child to be using the small screen. Put in place the rule that your child understands is the amount of time that they can use the small screen. The most important thing here is to not break the rules even if it is very inconvenient for you to uphold them.
Once a child or even an adult for that matter is addicted, the solution becomes a lot harder but there is plenty of help. The next article was from The Telegraph UK.
The article below may not suit you but it is a start.
A SMARTER SMARTPHONE STRATEGY
· Set phone-free zones: Rather than play a cat-and-mouse game of trying to monitor how much time your children have spent online, try introducing phone-free zones, according to parenting educator teacher Rachel Vecht. These might include places like dinner tables, bedrooms or around grandparents.
· Set a good example. Turn your phone off when you want to make your children number one, be a good role model with your own digital use. Switch on your out-of office reply to fight the urge to respond immediately at time when you are with your kids.
· Introduce a digital sunset: Place a limit of no phones or screens for at least an hour before bedtime (apart from e-readers that usually give off a different kind of light) because the blue hue phones emitted by phones interferes with sleep hormones. All phones, including grown-ups’, must be stored in a common area for charging. Don’t let your child use their smartphone as an alarm. Buy them an alarm clock.
This article may not be the answer to your problems, but I hope it fires you up enough to do more research on this growing problem.
Shidoshi Grant Bannister