You, I and we all are so good at pointing fingers and giving instructions to others. And when it comes to our children we believe that all the more to dictate terms and thinks it’s our birth right to give away list of Do’s and Don’ts to them. In swim of all this we forget ‘kids believe our actions more than they believe our words’ or ‘Monkey See, Monkey Do’, so here are some facts about how much moms, dads, uncles, aunts and even grandpas and grandmas are addicted to our mobile phones, a habit that we blame our kids for. Have you seriously thought for limiting you own screen-time.
If you don’t believe me when I say we are more addicted to screen time than our kids here are some numbers for you,
- 70% check their phones in the morning within an hour of getting up.
- 56% check their phones before going to bed.
- 48% check their phones over the weekend.
- 51% constantly check their phones during vacation.
- 44% reported they would feel very anxious and irritable if they did not interact with their phones within a week.
For anything and everything that comes to our mind the first thing we want to reach out for is the mobile phone, we are addicted to the information, entertainment, and personal connections that a smartphone delivers. People have an affinity for constant stream of entertainment and smartphones provide the quickest and most easily access to it.
And if you think that your husbands are more addicted to the smartphone that you, then sorry to break your heart. Studies say women are more likely to develop addictive mobile phone behavior than men. That surely has a strong reason that men experience less social stress than women and use their mobile phones less for social purposes. But do we really want to hide behind that.
Smartphone addiction can be compared to substance use disorders. In this case, the smartphones provide the high (by providing endless entertainment and connection) while acting as the means by which the drug is consumed.
Our bodies are not meant to be constantly staring at a screen as we need time to relax our eyes and more importantly our minds. In our day to day life also, we face many problems because of over use of mobile phones- some we acknowledge and some we don’t!!
Distracted driving:
Mobile phone overuse can be especially dangerous in certain situations such as texting and driving or talking on the phone while driving. Over 18 people are killed and 1,161 are injured daily because of distracted driving. The significant number of injuries and accidents from distracted driving can be contributed at least partially to mobile phone overuse. There are rules but we fail to prioritize whether we want to reach fast or talk right now, the definition of multitasking and time utilization gets abused.
Family Time:
Earlier leisure time was more was family time, or may be a walk in the garden or reading a book. Now everyone sits in their ‘my corner’ with their own choice of entertainment on their mobiles, even when young ones want to share an exciting discovery of their life we sometimes just nod our head without even giving them an eye contact, which discourages them from learning new things, and emphasizes the wrong behavior.
Husband and wife siting on same bed busy with their own phones is a common picture. Was pretty common sight for my husband & I until few days back! Err, to be honest with you!! Even family get together aren’t quite what they used to be. We have tons of WhatsApp groups and many messages exchanged throughout the day between all the members. But how many direct communications are happening? Don’t you agree the real communication is missing?
Convenience:
Who introduces a as young as 3 months old baby to a mobile phone, the light or sound a funny cartoon making different sounds? You right. Then as the child grows and becomes naughty but you have to finish your chores you make them sit in front of a phone and finish your work.
If you want to catch a nap and the baby wakes up early morning, you start nursery rhymes and go back to sleep, isn’t it? Hasn’t cell phone become a new age nanny to our young ones?
Before we restrict someone from doing something we ourselves need to work upon it. ‘Digital Detox’ is not a buzzword but need of the hour. Try to accept that you are using too much of mobile phone yourself, we have so many survey’s which say mums are on phone at least for 3-4hrs a day on various forums, groups and apps altogether. Start doing following things help yourself and help your family too.
- Always ask ‘why’ when you pull out your phone.
- Try to do ‘Mobile-Fast’ I mean VRAT… that I will not touch my phone every Wednesday something like that. Wednesday is my favorite day in week. You may one from rest of the six days as well!
- If you think, once the phone is in your hand and you may abuse it, then set an alarm that reminds you that you need to put that phone down.
- Log-out of social networks once in a while, you can keep your family and friends posted in advance.
- Invest in a hobby, it can be gardening, trying new recipes, sports, dance or something as conventional as knitting. In a nutshell, start moving the body than moving the fingers on screen!
- Rule No. 6. Stick to No.1. Its most important.
Let’s first improvise and restrict our own screen time before we expect our kids to do the same, Do you agree?
First of all I loved the title of this post. Mobile phone vrat something different than the detox word. Frankly speaking, when we are indulged in something very important and interesting and without our phones, our brain don’t even think of phones. But it’s our habit that we carry it everywhere. So we need to change our habit or not treating it as our nearest and inseparable pal.
This is so true though I have made it clear that my work and earnings are through the phone sadly so I have no choice but I try to keep away from the screen as much as possible.
Agree Monkey see Monkey do strategy. We need to ask ourselves why we picked a phone and use it for that purpose and keep it aside. I have set few time limits for self and that work well for me.
Yes! Sometimes we feel that not only kids but we adults also in the mobile jail. First, we should set the example in front of them they will definitely follow.
Yes completely agree with you..and loved the concept of mobile-vrat….there is no doubt that we all need this in our lives. technology in boon but when we overuse it, it becomes a curse and affect badly our life on all level. thanks a lot for this important reminder dear.
Yes cant agree more to the fact that phones have become an addiction for all. I won’t say I am not addicted but my husband has a role that post 10pm and on weekends is family time and phone is either not used or minimalistic usage is done
I can’t agree more, phones and continuous checking social apps creates a distraction in life. I often go for a weekend detox.
As bloggers we use screens a lot but you’re right, work turns into endless scrolling and social media use in no time. We need to take a break and just be with ourselves and our family once in a while.
Sometimes I too feel the same . Not only kids ,we adults are also in mobile jail .First we need work on ourselves to set an example for our kids.
To be honest, this is 100% true. We think that our kids are so addicted to mobile or screens and similarly they think the same for us. I think, we parents should change our nature to solve this problem.
Ujjwal – I love the way you go about choosing topics that are the need of the hour. Loved your take on this topic – truly, all of us are in the mobile jail and we need to break free. Kudos to your writing!