By Michaela Gordoni
Many parents are worried about their children’s addiction to screens, and the wealthy ones are even paying $8,000 a month to send them to detox camps.
“Parents compare managing their kids’ tech to having a second full-time job,” said social psychologist Jonathan Haidt on Nov. 20. “They are sending their kids to $8,000/mo detox camps. This speaks to how overwhelmed parents are and how little tech companies and society is doing to support them. “
Reset Summer Camp allows teens to spend four weeks in college dorms without devices. The camp is in California, North Carolina and Quebec, Canada. Reset also has a camp for adults.
“The camp is about rest, play and making space to reconnect with the land, others and ourselves,” said public speaker Jeff Harry.
Related: Parents More Concerned About Kids’ Screen Addiction Than Substance Abuse
“Parenting in the US is already much more intensive and hands-on than it was in previous generations,” he continued. “This added, continuous labor of worrying about, staying on top of, and managing your child’s tech is completely exhausting, never an end in sight. As tired as we are, there are steps we can take to hold tech companies accountable.”
Haidt, the author of The Anxious Generation, is on a mission to set new societal norms that protect kids and teens from screens.
“Just as we look at a teenager smoking as something outdated and harmful, we will one day look at a tween having a smartphone as something quaint that we’ve grown out of as a society, because now we know better,” he said optimistically.
The “new norms” he wants to see are no smartphones before high school, no social media before 16, phone-free schools and an increase in independence, free play and responsibility among kids.
But parents have to set the example. Many parents try to keep their kids off their devices but are often glued to their own phones.
Slate points out children whose parents are glued to a screen can show lower emotional intelligence. Children learn emotional intelligence by watching those around them. If a lot of their exposure is around expressionless caretakers whose eyes are glued to devices, they don’t develop as they should. Parents’ phone use can also make kids feel lonely, isolated and depressed.
Eileen Kennedy-Moore, a clinical psychologist, said, “What we want to aim for is responsiveness. When our kids are trying to get our attention, do we turn toward them more often than away?”
If your child is addicted to screens, you don’t have to send them to a detox camp, but you can seek screen counseling and start by setting some boundaries. No screens at the table or bedtime is a good start.
Read Next: Screen Time Limits Aren’t Just for Kids — Parents Need Them Too
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
– Content: +1Share:
– Content: +2