What to do when your Child is Addicted to Smartphone?

In this age of science and technology and rapid development, we see gadgets all around us relaxing in our hands, homes, and offices. Everybody has a reach to the electronic gadgets in this era no matter what their age is. We tend to connect to the world at a rate of knots and do things at a click of a button. Things are more easier now, but the convenience has its own ramifications when it comes to children. Parents and elders are protective of their children since their birth.

The regular use of smartphones is not an unusual thing now. Mobile addiction has become a major concern for the parents these days. From early sunup to sundown, children are addicted to phone and while away their time either in surfing the Internet or playing games. Excess of everything is bad, similarly, when your child uses phone at odd hours, it becomes necessary to stop him or her at the very moment before it becomes a serious problem.

Signs Your Child Is Addicted To Smartphone

Children have sacrificed their otherworldly pleasures nowadays in favor of a smartphone. When a child becomes engaged in phone round the clock, there arise many problems. It must be taken care of that the child doesn’t drown him in the gadget world to the point of being obnoxious. Parents often find it difficult to deal with such issues, but these must be dealt before they grow into a mammoth issue because it would result in almost no solution after the child gets into the zone of mobile addiction. Parents must keep in mind and observe their child’s activities and keep a check to prevent them reaching a saturation point. Here are some signs that will show your child is addicted to smartphone :

#1. Isolation With Family

If your child happens to shun you and the entire family just to immerse himself into the smartphone, it calls for a serious action. Children disconnect with family members and connect with others other than family members, busy typing, chatting and calling. This starts from home, the little separation, by degrees, turn into a colossal divide.

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#2. Shells Out Money

When a child forks out a great fortune in order to download apps, buy batteries or phone plates, expensive covers and music, it’s a call for the parents to be alert and attentive so that the child stays out of the smart mobile addiction. Spending money is not an issue but expenses entirely on phone related stuff is a sign of cell phone addiction.

#3. Plays Truant From School

Children at the present bunk their schools to spend time with their friends in the company of their beloved cellphone. They start missing classes and drum up excuses to serve to their teachers and parents for the fear of being getting caught.

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#4. Excludes From Family Activities

If your child doesn’t attend family functions or ceremonies just for the sake of chatting with friends or listening to the music on the Internet, parents must talk to their child or else such minor problems which look on the surface but are actually quite major in reality, turn disastrous in the future. Phone addiction keeps the child away from family gatherings by a long shot.

#5. Capricious Behaviour

Everyone is prone to mood swings due to different circumstances and situations but going the whole hog in the anxiety circle and down in the dumps are the signs of smartphone addiction. When children go through phases of extreme anxiety when kept away from their phone, they are to be looked after.

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#6. No Activities Outside Phone

Children love playing outdoor games and partying down with their bunch of friends. This does not happen when a child has mobile addiction, he or she gives up on his or her friends and spends his time watching videos and movies on phone. This proclivity towards a mobile is not only harmful but worth contemplating in the bargain.

#7. Fails To Concentrate On Studies

When a child is cellphone addicted or is on the verge of turning into one, he or she moves away from studies and does not show even an iota of interest in studies and the related stuff. Keeping books at bay in favour of a smartphone is a serious concern.

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#8. Staying Up Till Late

Some children are up till the witching hours which is sheer wastage of time and energy owing to the phone addiction. Waking up at the crack of dawn just to check phone or message or download an app calls for a strict action by family members of a child.

#9. Carries Mobile In Washroom

Texting and attending calls in bathroom is not at all necessary but on account of cell phone addiction, this happens naturally because of the addiction and habit he or she has picked up which is definitely detrimental to the mind and body.

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How To Control Child Cellphone Addiction

Smartphone addiction is something which is unhealthy and reeks of a disorder which might become serious due to the excessive use of a mobile phone. Parents are wracked with worry these days, as to how to bring balance into the lives of their children by restoring their lives to normal and stop them running after this thing called phone addiction. In order to put a check on their addiction and their growing and insane interest in the cellphone , here are some of the ways :

#1. Refuse Them

Object to the extreme use of phone, don’t be rude but tell them emphatically not to use a phone. Fix their hours and prepare a schedule for them, so that they have no time for phone. Even if they manage to squeeze a few hours after a jam-packed schedule, give them the liberty to use it.

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#2. Organize Parties

Parties and gatherings are loved by everyone where a child gets to meet his or her coterie of pals where they can let their hair down, rock and roll. Curate theme based parties on the taste of your children, so that he or she gets fascinated by it and indulge themselves in this fun affair.

#3. Download Learning Apps

Ask your children to download useful apps on the phone if he or she is not able to cut the phone addiction quickly. This way your child will use phone and learn new things in the process giving a new edge to his or her personality.

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#4. Plan Outings

Vacations have a powerful impact and once you set for a trip, all you do is enjoy. If at all your child remains addicted to the smartphone, ask him or her to capture the surroundings and make a journal of it, so that the attention is diverted to something else.

#5. Install Applications

Children are too active and want to try everything on their own. In case you cannot stay with your children, you can install applications in their phone so that they do not access your account or some site unsuitable for them. This is probably the best way to keep a check on them by being away from them.

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#6. Limit The Usage

Parents fraught with tension due to their children’s phone addiction can plan a routine for their kids. This way the children would not have time on their hands to message and watch movies all the while , thereby decreasing their extreme use of a smartphone.

#7. Digital Detoxification

Every member of the family can go on a digital detoxification, it would act as a tech timeout for everyone in the family. This way the child’s mobile addiction can be curbed to a certain extent, if not for a long time, but at least for a few days. The entire family can relax by being away from phone and indulge in something adventurous or entertaining.

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#8. Interval Training

Now that the kids have developed this phone addiction, parents must try this interval process kind of thing which makes sure that they don’t use phone during their studying hours. Also, they can be given the latitude to use phone for straight thirty minutes or so after they are done with their work. This helps in restoring a balance between the two.

#9. Encourage Outdoor Activities

Push your children out of their bedrooms and the four walls of the house. Staying indoors never lets the obsession for a mobile phone atrophy. Enroll your kids in a sports team or a yoga class, so that they spend their few hours out in the open without distractions from the cell phone.

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#10. Limit On Money

The more you lend your child the money, the more the phone addiction grows. It is, therefore, essential to keep a check on money you loan them. Never go overboard with money out of love, it only spoils them. It’s better and safer to provide them money when they need it urgently.

#11. Treat Them As An Equal

Never treat your child with a superior authority attitude. This results in damaging the relationships and things go worse. Children should be taught within the regular conversations by setting an example. Do not act like you are forcing them to do something. Ask them politely and talk openly about cell phone addiction with them.

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What are your views regarding a child's smartphone addiction? Let us know by commenting.

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