July 15, 2015
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Put Down the Phone! (condensed from Julie Watts)
“How do you feel when your mommy and daddy are on the phone?” we asked.
“Sad,” said one 4-year-old
Other words uses were angry, sad, frustrated, and lonely. A third of children said their parents spend as much or more time with their devices than they do with them. These devices are actually addictive. They are constructed that way and meant to notify you and trigger a dopamine addictive hit to your brain to react.
More than half (54%) of kids feel their parents check their devices too often. More than a third (32%) said they feel unimportant when their parents are distracted by their phones. When parents are looking at their screens they often respond more harshly to their kids. The technology can be dangerous. We’ve seen about a 22% spike in preventable accidents with young children and caretakers using their digital devices.
Psychologists say it’s not a matter of giving your kids your undivided attention. It’s about setting limits, especially during specific times of day, like in the car, at dinner, during bath time and bedtime. Parents should finish their calls before they walk in the door at night, and really give their undivided attention when they greet their child at the end of a long day.
