How To Respond To Screen Addiction & Overuse
The average teenager spends 8-9 hours on screens A DAY and....
...no, this is NOT DOING SCHOOL WORK.
It's for pleasure. 8-9 on a screen, for pleasure.
Wow.
Screen addiction is real...and rampant.
Screen addiction is serious.
Screen addiction is not ok.
And no, not all teenagers are screen addicts. Many teens have healthy relationships with screens. (My daughters are two of them.)
Signs Your Kid Has An Unhealthy Relationship With Screens
✔️ Your child seems to obsess about being on a screen, or when they can be on a screen
✔️Your child says they "NEED" a screen because....(insert co-dependent reason)
✔️Your tween/teen is spending most Saturday/Sunday on a screen and not outside with friends or family...
✔️ Your child sits on their bed in front of a screen from 3pm-bedtime "studying"...
✔️ Your tween/teen has hacked the "Screen Time" app to get around the screen boundaries...
✔️ Your teen doesn't have a bedtime because they tell you they need to study past 10 pm...
✔️ Your blows up or gets cranky when they get off a screen...
✔️ Your child has a D or an F in a class
If you said yes to any of these...then these things MAY BE TRUE:
1. Your tween/teen is not living a healthy, balanced life.
2. Your tween/teen may have a screen addiction.
3. You are funding and enabling this unhealthy addicted lifestyle.
That makes you an "enabler" and you are part of the problem. And may be a HUGE part of this problem.
4. You are not helping your tween/teen thrive or mature as a healthy, balanced young adult.
5. It's not too late for you to change- and help your teen change - and stop the enabling.
I say this because I care.
I care about you and your child.
Our kids need our help.
Here are action steps for parents to take immediately:
1. Read my E-Book: A Parent's Guide to Break Screen Addiction.
See it HERE.
In my e-book I provide 12 ideas and 12 tools to break screen addiction and also the 12 stages of screen addiction.
I also have a live Zoom where I talk with parents like you and answer the question about screen addiction. See it HERE.
2. Consider doing a "Screen Fast".
This is an extended period of time where your child has ZERO access to pleasure screens. Affective screen fasts should be a minimum of two weeks and normally last 30-90 days. The E-Book can show you the Dos and Dont's of how to do it properly.
3. Remove computers and gaming systems from bedrooms. No child is entitled to have a screen or tv in their room.
4. Put in screen limits on all of the screens...until they are mature enough, and trustworthy enough, to manage their own screen time.
How to do this?
Enable the Screen Time App built into every Apple phone or device. Andriod users can buy BARK or Circle.
5. Book a session and have your tween/teen meet with a PMT Coach for Teen Coaching to do inner work on themselves; to learn why they became screen-addicted; and to learn EQ tools from their Coach on how to live a healthy, balanced life.
6. Book a private Parent Coaching session with me, Sean Donohuw. I can help you map out an effective plan to break your child's screen addiction and move them into a healthy relationship with screens.
Get more tools for screen addiction and overuse HERE
Be Strong. Stay Close. Teach Wisdom.
Your Friend,
Sean Donohue
Family Coach
Founder of ParentingModernTeens.com
Click HERE to go deeper with Sean.
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