- Introduction
If you are worried about the screen time of your kids, your concern is necessary. While technology can be a good tool for learning, too much screen time is turning into phone addiction. Constant exposure to screens at an early age can severely affect their future. It is becoming a serious concern of all the parents over the world. It is affecting their physical, mental, and emotional health.
In this article we will discuss the signs, causes, effects, and solutions of phone addiction among children.
What is phone addiction in kids?
Phone addiction is also known as NOMOPHOBIA. It is becoming a serious concern of parents all around the world. Phone addiction is when your child is constantly and uncontrollably checking on phones and glued to them for hours, and because of it, their brain starts depending on phones for happiness and comfort, because of which they ignore all other tasks…like studying, outdoor play, family interactions, and other common activities.
👉Signs your child is addicted to a phone…
- Glued to phone for hours and ignoring people around.
- Don’t have meals without a phone.
- Constantly checking phone every minute.
- Get angry when the phone is taken away and behave aggressively.
- Avoid outdoor activities and hobbies; spend more time on screen, playing games and on social media.
- watching phone secretly without parents’ permission.
- trouble focusing.
- Ignore studies that lead to bad scores. It also causes a lack of attention in the classroom and other important matters.
- Staying up late at night on phones.
You can easily detect your children’s phone addiction with these upper symptoms.
Causes phone addiction in kids….
- Easy phone access… One of the major causes of over-the-phone use among kids is the availability of phones. They easily get phones, which turn into addictions.
- Online games…… There are so many online games and apps that attract children and lead to phone addiction.
- Peer influence…children follow their friends or classmates to behave a certain way and get addicted to phones.
- lack of outdoor games … when children don’t get to play outside, then they choose phones as the best option for entertainment.
- Parents’ less supervision… Parents hand over their phone to children to keep them occupied, which turns into dependency and addiction in children.
Phones have so many games, videos, and other things, which makes children stick to phones for long hours and triggers children to use phones more, which turns into addiction.
Scientific cause of phone addiction in children…👇
“Dopamine (feel-good hormone) is a reward and happiness- and pleasure-giving chemical that is released when children watch phones or videos and play games on phones.”
👉Every time kids play games, watch videos, or get a “like” on social media, their brain releases dopamine, a chemical related to happiness and reward, which makes them feel happy and excited. Their brain then wants more to get the same pleasure, so kids keep returning to their phones again and again.
👉 Rewards.
Getting instant rewards—like winning in a game, watching short fun videos, or receiving notifications—gives happiness, due to which the brain’s reward system (nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex) gets conditioned to expect quick rewards. Over time, the brain depends on phones for happiness and struggles to function without them.
👉 Neuroplasticity (Brain Rewiring) The constant use of phones rewires neural pathways in the brain. Kids start losing patience for slow or offline activities like reading books or studying. Their over-attention on phones makes their brains used to fast-changing digital stimulation.
👉 Stress and Cortisol When kids can’t use their phones, the stress hormone cortisol rises. This makes them anxious or irritable, leading to withdrawal symptoms—of phone addiction.
—✅ In short: Phone addiction is caused by dopamine-driven reward loops in the brain and brain rewiring due to overuse. This is why kids find it so hard to stay away from phones, even when they know it’s harmful.
⬇️ Harmful effects of phones on kids
- Physical issues
Weak vision and headache …because of long exposure to harmful phone radiation.
Bad posture… because of long hours sitting with phones.
Week focus… because excessive phone use can affect their brains, which makes it difficult to focus on other tasks as well.
- Emotional impact
Anxiety, anger for no reason, reduced attention, crying over silly things, and getting irritated easily over little reasons.
- Poor Studies
Excessive screen time leads to poor concentration and distraction in study.
- Less social interaction
Less interest in communication with people around.
👇 Eight ways to solve this problem….
- Set alarm and fix screen timing.Ideal time….2-5 years max 1 hour/day6-12 years max. 1-2 Hours/dayFixing timing will help to control the screen timing of children. And an alarm will remind them to stop watching more phone after a time limit.
- Keep the phone away from their reach so that they can’t get it easily.
- Spend more time with your children so they don’t feel the need to use their phones in their free time.
- Involve them in outdoor activities. Offer alternative entertainments like …PuzzlesBoard gamesArts and craftsMusicGardeningReading, etc.
These activities will keep children busy and help them to learn new things and also distract them from phones. Parents should also get involved with their children to keep stronger bonds and interaction.
- Don’t use your phone too much in front of your child. Because parents are the role models of children, and they are influenced by their parents.
- Parents should keep an eye on their children.
- Communicate and educate them about phone addiction. Discuss the good and bad effects of phones with your child.
- Teach your children to use it for learning also. You can help them to learn new things and involve them practically.
👇 Here are some other ways to control your children’s phone addiction…
✅ Give more time and keep your bond strong with your child. The more you make them feel connected and involved with family, the less they will feel the need to use a phone for entertainment or comfort.
✅ Don’t shout at your child or take their phone suddenly; it can cause anger or stress. Try to reduce usage slowly.
✅ Involve them in storytelling, cooking together, walks, and other activities that divert their mind from phones to other activities.
✅ Instead of strictly banning something, try to direct them positively; kids respond to positive redirection more than negative.
✅ Appreciate their positive outcomes. When they start using their phone less, reward them; it will encourage them to use their phone less next time.
👉At the end …..
Phones are not harmful if used in good ways and in moderation. Children get addicted when not monitored on time. With awareness, discipline, guidance, and setting boundaries, parents can lead their children to grow in healthier ways even with phones and other technologies.