Is Your Child’s Worst Enemy Your Smart Phone?

Our culture is blinded by the one thing our children are constantly fighting with.

Children might fight with their siblings, they might fight with you (as their parent), they might fight with their friends, but there is something bigger that children are constantly fighting with.

it’s that so called thing you keep in your pants back pocket…

THAT SMART PHONE

With today’s technology, everyone has a smart phone. You go somewhere in public and while looking around, you will see over half the people looking down at their phones.

I wonder what goes through children’s minds these days. What do they think always seeing their parents and other adults looking down on their phones? My guess is they don’t know any different because it has now become the norm these days.

Why is your child in constant battle with YOUR phone?

TIME

I wish there was a tracking device on smart phones that tracked the amount of minutes and hours spent on our phones each day. I think we’d all be in denial or embarrassed to what that number actually would come out to.

If you are spending more time on your phone than with your child, your child will eventually experience some jealous feelings. You wonder why your child is fussy and clinging to your feet while you’re staring at your phone. So you tell your child, “just wait a minute,” which turns into several minutes maybe a half an hour.

Then, frustration arises inside of you because you are being disrupted by your whining child. So you end up disciplining, yelling, or sending your child to her room.

And all this child wanted was your time.

ATTENTION

Your child wants to be recognized by you. When she does something remarkable (in her own eyes), she wants you to put your eyes and attention onto her.

But no, instead, you are again on your phone. She looks up at you and you’re looking down on your phone.

Your child also notices that every time your phone goes off, your eyes and attention go immediately to that smart phone. Those moments she says your name, she needs to say it two, three, maybe four times till she actually gets your full attention. Which by then, you’re again upset, because she is disrupting your thoughts.

WHAT STANDARD ARE WE SETTING IN OUR HOME?

What your children see in their home is what becomes their normal. If they see their parents staring down on their phones half the day, that will become their normal growing up.

It saddens me how this is so true in many homes these days, even Christian homes.

It saddens me how we are completely blinded by our child’s worst enemy. How she is in constant in battle with this every day.

Can we help our child in this unnecessary fight? Can our time and attention be driven more towards our child rather than on our smart phones?

THIS.IS.MY.CHALLENGE.TO.YOU.