Preventing Phone Addiction in Your Child

Exposure to smartphones has become a normal occurrence in modern society. Because of the advancement in technology, more and more tasks are being added to our smartphones which indirectly makes us rely upon them. Tasks like checking the time and calendar, looking at your schedule, making notes on groceries are all pretty common tasks you can find on smartphones now. Not to also mention that smartphones also act as cameras that help store memories of precious moments and allow them to be shared in just a click.

As such, there is a connection where the mental health of children can be linked to their increased usage of mobile gadgets such as their phones and tablets. For teenagers especially as they can be more drawn to constantly checking in their social media and phones for notifications which is the result of them developing a fear of missing out syndrome. They always wanted to be “in the know” and are subconsciously afraid of missing out on anything, whether it’s important or not. This is also why they may tend to always check their phones every few minutes.

For younger children, the case may be different. Smartphones are not being used as some sort of pacifier for them. They use their smartphones at a young age as a source of constant entertainment for them. This can be so for many reasons. It can be because their parents have something to do and they need to keep their child entertained or it can be because the parent wants to keep their child quiet. However, parents will most likely forget that keeping their children always preoccupied will not allow them the time to be bored and thus, find new and creative ways to use their time.

As such, children who are addicted to their smartphones are more prone to not being active physically and socially, and thus, they may be prone to childhood obesity and behavioral problems like difficulty in concentration and aggressiveness. If parents or their guardians cannot control their children’s phone addiction once it has started, it can be even more damaging for the child’s overall well-being in the long run.