Cell phone use has become a regular/necessary part of most of our lives,however, the negative impact that this is having on our kids is huge.

Here are some of these impacts:

Looking at their phones hundreds of times a day creates interrupted thought processes

Conversations being interrupted to respond to a text message-not finishing sentences creates communication breakdown.

Sleeping with phones under pillows and responding all night to texts creates interrupted sleep.

Phones at school breeds interruptions in learning and sets kids up for cheating.

Phones during homework results in interrupted concentration

and homework not being completed.

What You Can Do:

Before you purchase your child’s first cell phone…ask yourself…why am I doing this?

If it is because your child is begging you that s/he cannot live without it and everyone else has one, yada yada yada….think good and hard.

Decide if your child/tween/teen really requires his or her cell phone while at school and if not do not allow them to bring it.

Cell phones are handed over to parents after school and returned when homework is completed.

Cell phones are handed over to parents during the child’s sleeping hours.

Cell phones will become a power struggle. There is no way around it. Having a system for controlling their use will ensure that your child grows up socially adept and with a mind that can focus on one thing at a time.