How to Help Your Kids with Their Technology Addiction

The rumor was that millennials are going to be a tech generation that will develop an addiction to the gizmos popular during the 90s. However, children today interact with technology to a far greater extent. It is impossible for them to eat a meal without fidgeting with their tablets and they seldom go outside because they play video games all day. Once you realize that your kids are addicted to technology, it is time to step in and help them.

Establishing a charging zone downstairs

It has been scientifically proven that using smartphones, laptops or tablets immediately before bed can disrupt the sleep cycle. The problem is more extensive with children, who stand to lose more because of sleep deficiency since they are in their formative years.

An efficient method is to establish a charging zone downstairs where everybody living in the house would leave their phone. Because your spouse and you would also leave your phones on the charger, this constitutes as teaching by example. The kids can pick up their phones in the morning after they have had at least 8 hours of sleep.

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Annual “screen-free” days

After parents realize their child has a problem with tech addiction, their immediate reaction is to ban all devices at once. This might seem like the right course of action to take but it will soon backfire on the parent. There is no way to keep your children in a tech vacuum at the beginning of the third decade of the 21^st century!

Instead of completely banning access to smartphones, you should introduce “screen-free” days. These would include holidays, family celebrations, a picnic or a similar activity that takes place only several times a year. Because these days would occur only a couple of times a year, the children will easily get used to putting the phone down when they are camping or playing a sport.

Offline playtime

If you’re wondering what you can use to supplant video games, just remember what you did as a child. We bet you owned a remarkable collection of toys, such as dolls or robots. Although a joystick is more interesting than a choo-choo train, make the effort to get your kids interested in offline games. You can check out innovative toys here – to get the idea of what kind of toys your child might find interesting.

Fun and games after homework

Needless to say, homework takes priority over video games. This will teach the children a valuable lesson about responsibility and work ethics. Of course, count in computer time for school homework purposes.

Time the children

Perhaps the oldest method of fighting technology addiction in children is limiting their screen time. Setting a time limit establishes clear boundaries regarding the amount of time a child can use a high-tech device during the day. The number of hours children are allowed to spend in front of a computer screen lingers around 4 hours for children aged 8-12. Of course, the time spent in front of the TV or a smartphone should vary depending whether it’s a school day or the weekend.

Quality outdoor time

A couple of decades ago, parents couldn’t keep the children inside even using a broom! Nowadays, the situation has reversed, it is the parents who are trying to make the children leave the house and play outside when the weather is fine.

You could instigate a 50-50 rule that would state that as much time children spent at their computer during summer, the dame number of hours they need to spend playing outside. Introduce them to all the fun outdoor activities, like cycling, skating, playing hide and seek, ball games, etc.

Now that you have several strategies at your disposal, you are ready to help your children with their technology addiction. Overall, try to show them what they are missing out on while bluntly staring at a computer screen.