Inner Thought

Ways to distract kids from using mobile phones

Today’s children are tomorrow’s future. The reins of the country are in the hands of today’s children. We have to take care of their future, and for that, it is most important that we understand the biggest problem that every parent faces today is how to protect them from becoming mobile addicts. Children are addicted to mobile phones which has a great impact on their minds. There are several surveys conducted which prove that smartphones and technology have a great impact on health including the brain. Children who use their phones excessively may experience health issues like stress, headaches, neck pain, eye strain, and sleeplessness. They run the risk of exposing themselves to infections and dangerous radiation from their phones. Additionally, the use of phones may cause them to acquire bad habits and posture and lose focus and concentration. Due to their phone addiction, they might also miss out on experiences and interactions in real life. The following are ways to distract kids from using mobile phones or to help them reduce the problem to some extent.

Ways to distract kids from using mobile phones

1. Spend time with your kids

Spend quality time with your children by doing things like gaming, reading, crafting, cooking, and other activities that don’t require smartphones. Picnics, family outings, and trips to interesting locations are other options. Giving your children quality time can make them feel cherished, loved, and entertained. Encourage your child to engage in activities such as reading, writing, painting, simple science experiments, and music listening.

Even though the majority of parents lead hectic lives, it’s crucial to set aside time for bonding with their kids. Getting your kids involved in cooking, gardening, or playing board games, will help them feel important and useful. As a result, they will give up using their smartphone as a lonely escape. 

2. Activity-based learning

You can help your children by encouraging them to use their phones only for learning activities, such as expanding their knowledge, honing a skill, or completing homework. Additionally, you can engage them in activities that foster their curiosity and creativity, like experiments, puzzles, tests, and projects.

3. Promote spending time outside and engaging in outdoor activities 

You can encourage your children to play sports like soccer, cricket, badminton, or cycling outside with their friends or siblings. Playing outdoor games keeps them happy, healthy, and physically active and enhances social skills, cooperation, and sportsmanship. Children’s brain development, focus, and concentration are aided by outdoor games. Thus encouraging the child to play outside can reduce their smartphone addiction. Promoting spending time outside and engaging in outdoor activities is one of the accepted ways to distract kids from using mobile phones.

4. Tight supervision or Staying accountable

You can keep an eye on and supervise your children’s use of smartphones and ensure they strictly abide by the guidelines and routines you have established for them. Additionally, you can discuss with your children the benefits and drawbacks of cell phones as well as the possible dangers and negative effects of overusing them. Limiting mobile phone use is crucial, and talking one-on-one with your child about smartphones can help them avoid them. Give them a detailed explanation of why you shouldn’t use them frequently and discuss the drawbacks of using them more than is necessary.

5. Give up giving kids phones as gifts or rewards

Giving kids phones as gifts or rewards can lead to them associating them with good feelings, which will heighten their desire for them. As parents, we occasionally make expensive technology promises to our kids in exchange for their academic success or contest victories. Giving them these might easily divert them, so consider giving them some other kind of presents instead.

6. Set passwords

Make sure to set passwords for your children because you can’t always be there to discourage them from using a smartphone. You can rely on technology to help you in such an emergency. To prevent your child from using your phone while you are away, set a password on it. It is also one of the popular ways to distract kids from using mobile phones.

7. Provide a good example 

Set a good example by using your smartphone extensively, as many parents do. Telling kids not to use their phones in these situations might not be helpful because they will undoubtedly emulate their parents. Thus, set a good example for your kids by using a cell phone in moderation. On the other hand, let your child know if your line of work requires a lot of mobile usage.

8. Turn off your wifi and mobile internet

It is a good idea to download and store media on your phone when introducing it. Check to see if you can download the content for offline use if you are using YouTube or another online resource. Children are highly curious, so if they have unrestricted access to new content instead of just a few videos, they are more likely to become addicted to your phone. 

9. Engagement in artistic endeavors

Engaging your children in creative activities can divert their attention and encourage them to avoid using mobile devices. You can assign them different tasks that foster mental development, which is crucial for the child’s healthier development. Parents should encourage their children to engage in creative activities such as painting, swimming, drawing, gardening, writing stories, reading essays and storybooks, and engaging in many kinds of indoor and outdoor games.

10. Always avoid Using a Phone During Family Time 

Encourage your child to avoid using their phone or any other digital device during family time because using a phone can make a child less social and less adept at communicating. When you let your kids use the phone whenever they want, they don’t put it off—not even during family get-togethers. Therefore, it is best to forbid them from using their phones while having dinner or engaging in other family activities. You can establish guidelines such as not allowing phones during family time, scheduling a meal for the entire family, and encouraging communication among family members. This strengthens the bonds within the family, and kids frequently grow happier and pick up a lot of knowledge when they spend. Always avoid Using a Phone During Family time is one of the widespread ways to distract kids from using mobile phones.

11. Establish a phone-free area when eating

Children are physically incapable of putting food in their mouths when their hands and eyes are fixed on their phones. Many parents struggle to get their children to finish their meals. They can concentrate solely on eating if there are no electronics present at the table. Enforcing a no-phone rule during dinner will help kids form a habit that will serve them well in the future.  They will make a good impression if they concentrate on who they are with. There will be at least one break from their devices during a tech-free dinner. 

12. Enjoy Your Events

These days, children don’t know how to have fun. Their antisocial behavior and frequent cellphone use may hurt their mental and physical well-being. Fun family activities can be planned to divert your child’s attention and prevent them from remembering to use their phone. You can invite their friends over to your house, where you can cook, play games indoors, and generally let them amuse themselves.
In addition to taking them to parties every weekend, they can plan to bake a cake, cook their favorite meals, force them to visit friends’ houses, read bedtime stories, and encourage them to interact with neighbors and family. 

13. Use apps for parental control

Give your children access to smartphones by enabling the kids mode and password-protected app features on their phones. It is not feasible to constantly watch over your kids. Therefore, you can search for and enable these options on your mobile phone if you are not with them or are heading to work. Customizing your apps is made possible by the parental control feature, which is a great advantage when it comes to technology’s ability to prevent addiction.

You can prevent your child from becoming addicted to their phone by using parental control apps as a parent. You can place a limit on how long you spend using each app by using parental control. Setting a screen time limit for your child based on their age is helpful. Parents can help ensure that their children use cell phones safely and stay away from online dangers by implementing parental control. Monitoring every action your child takes on their device, also shields them from cyberbullying and other online crimes.

When a child has a device with them, you can use Family Link to keep an eye on what they see, set screen time limits, and even track where they are (parents can manage their device through the Family Link app on Android and iOS).

You can track the kids’ every move and identify how much time they spend on the internet with Fenced.ai. From a dashboard, you can monitor how much time your kids spend using their devices and the internet. It also uses a GPS tracker to track your child’s location by displaying their travel route.

Using parental control software, parents can restrict the use of the app by preventing access to unsuitable apps and content. With parental apps, you can keep an eye on everything your child does, including calls, and messages. It is one of the frequently accepted ways to distract kids from using mobile phones.

14. Don’t Introduce Smartphones Too Soon

Your child may become addicted to their phone and lose focus on other things if you expose them to it at a young age. Before a child learns how to use a phone and reaches the legal age to use a digital platform, they should not be given one. To help your child understand the material, you can use a smartphone to teach them by watching a suitable video with them. Having watched the video and being familiar with the material you wish to teach your child, you can assist them in understanding what is on the screen.
When they are bored and don’t have time to take care of their child, some parents offer their kids cell phones as a way to entertain and soothe them.
As they learn to use everything and become active everywhere at a young age, it causes children to become addicted to their phones. To prevent children from becoming addicted to mobile phones, it is not enough to introduce phones to them at an early age.

15. When not in use, turn off the internet

When you are not using your internet for work, you should turn it off. By turning off the internet children can avoid using phones and other electronics. You can also spend more time playing with your children than giving them phones. Likewise, by shutting off the internet, you can prevent your children from using cell phones and encourage them to interact with family. Turning off the internet encourages you and your children to avoid using mobile devices.

16. Invest Time in Your Child’s Development

Children learn more and become more skilled communicators when they spend more time with their parents. You can become a child’s best friend and learn about their interests and desires through interacting with them. Children pick up social skills from the activities of others, so spending time with them helps them become courteous, responsible, and capable communicators. When kids travel to new places and engage with people, they learn a lot of things.
Your child needs your attention because they are attention-seekers who want their parents to talk to them. Therefore, you must commit to enjoying yourself as a family, day or night. It can involve planning parties for important occasions like birthdays and the new year, hosting dinner outside, inviting friends over for a get-together party, and traveling to different locations to celebrate vacations.

17. Increase Your Time With Kids

Parents serve as role models for their children, as is well known. Youngsters frequently copy the actions of others and pick up lessons from them. Furthermore, when parents are preoccupied with work, they must instruct their kids on how to use technology responsibly. If not, they ought to put down their phones and spend time playing or interacting with children.
The more you as a parent engage with your kids, the more proficient communicators they become. Youngsters frequently pick up speech from their parents and model social interactions after them. They quickly pick up on every word, retain it all, and put it into practice. It is one of the approved ways to distract kids from using mobile phones.

18. Describe the causes

You can discuss with your children the advantages and disadvantages of smartphone use, as well as how overuse can impair their social skills, education, and general health. Additionally, you could show them some written materials or YouTube clips that highlight how phone addiction affects kids.

19. Encourage and boost your children

You should also encourage and uplift your children and recognize their efforts and successes in adhering to the rules. You can give them extra screen time or other perks for adhering to the rules, or you can commend them for using their phone sensibly. Additionally, you can express interest in their phone activities and invite them to share any knowledge or experiences they may have with you.

20. Be justified and adaptable

Modifying the rules to suit the needs and circumstances of your children. If there is a good reason, like a school project, a family emergency, or a special occasion, you can grant some exceptions or modifications to the rules. Additionally, you can go over the rules with your children regularly and adjust them as needed.

21. Limited usage

Keeping smartphones away from kids can be challenging because they are becoming an indispensable part of our lives. Your child might eventually start using your phone, but you don’t want them to become dependent on it. Make sure your child understands that they can use your smartphone as long as you have talked to them about the rules regarding its use. When it’s time to go outside and play, study, eat, or go to bed, discourage using it. Limited usage is one of the well-liked ways to distract kids from using mobile phones.

Conclusion

Children now live a life where technology is a constant. Kids are exposed to a wide range of technological devices in today’s world for a variety of reasons, including communication, entertainment, and education. Young children’s use of technology can have several harmful effects on their development, such as reduced playtime, more time spent in front of screens, and more time spent alone. To choose the right level of technology for their children, parents, and other caregivers must be aware of the possible risks that technology poses to young children. The way that adults use screens affects how their children behave when using screens.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that children aged two to five should not spend more than one hour using media screens. But according to recent studies, 90% of three-year-olds and 80% of two-year-olds did not follow the AAP’s suggested guidelines. Mothers’ screen time and the fact that kids were kept in homes with more digital screen access were the factors that were associated with the exceeding of media usage guidelines.
The following are some steps parents can take to restrict their child’s screen time.

1. Choose the media content your child will watch with care.
2. Take up co-viewing and engage the child in conversation about the material.
3. Teaching children how to watch by demonstrating techniques like deciphering program content and paying close attention to details.
4. Set time, content, and media consumption limits for the youngster.
5. Create strong passwords: Show your kids how to come up with passwords that are challenging to figure out. Urge them to use a mix of symbols, numbers, and letters.
6. Promote digital detoxification periods and screen-free activities.
7. Remove TVs and other electronic media devices from children’s bedrooms.

8. Adhering to the 20-20-20 rule, which states that you should pause after using a screen for 20 minutes and gaze at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. By following the 20-20-20 rule, digital visual strain can be reduced and various vision disorders can be prevented in the eyes.
9. Parents ought to impose shorter screen time restrictions on themselves.
10. It is advisable for parents to substitute screen time with other pursuits, like playing outside, honing skills, getting enough sleep, interacting with friends and family, studying, and engaging in physical activities that are essential for kids’ general growth and well-being.
11. Parents need to be made aware of the potential drawbacks and repercussions of excessive media and screen time.

12. Limit your child’s access to particular websites and apps by turning on parental controls on their devices.
13. Talk to them frequently about their online experiences and keep an eye on any suspicious activity, downloads, or online activities. Instruct your kids to never post their phone number, address, or name online.

Please write your opinion or personal experiences if any, in the below comment box.  

Reference

Impact of social media on our life

How phone affects kid’s development