My daughter used to spend hours in the living room, not watching TV as most of her peers do, but instead finding her immersed in her creativity and innovation, around her she finds scraps of paper, beads and strings, making beautiful necklaces and dolls, other than the wonderful drawings of cartoon characters in her notebooks. And she loved to sew, make dresses, hats and shoes for her dolls. Before I bought her a cloth to help her pursue her hobbies she used cardboard, and my brother even gave her a wooden doll for her birthday. So she made clothes for her.


She wasn't allowed to TV on school days, but we were indulgent on the weekends. You weren't watching much TV anyway. She was too busy with her other things. When friends came, she would show them her beautiful artwork and drawings.

And at the age of ten, she asked me to buy her IPod touchBy virtue of being with many of her friends. And you will be surprised that for several months she was carrying a model of a phone she made of cardboard and decorated it as usual, and made him the slogan "Bee", and named it Queen Bee.

With the iPod touch system, we can control time and content, and dictate the rules for using the device early before she gets used to it. For example, she cannot use it for more than an hour a day. Do not use it after seven in the evening, without having the device with her in her room, and also, do not take the device with her on any family outings.

And with our passionate affection towards our beloved ones, we do not want to be deprived as we were deprived when we were young, either because these technologies did not exist in our time, or because of the lack of the same hand at that time. But we do not want these technologies to affect our children in one way or another, or else get addicted to them and let the matter out of our hands, and I actually bought one for her on New Year's Eve.

Soon after getting an iPod touch, I started asking for a real phone. Her strong argument was that she will transfer to a new school in September and take the bus for the first time. And she will not be able to contact me through the iPod that does not have a SIM card. And in August, before she started her new school, I bought her IPhone SE.

And so I opened a door from Hell


We had to wait until she got older, smartphones are not the same as televisions, and little by little, our daughter abandoned the rules she had set for using it. The apps only made things worse over time.

On a rainy Saturday. She wanted to talk to her friends, no problem, I see no harm in using FaceTime. Indeed, we exclude FaceTime from the hourly cap. Additionally she wanted a game RobloxAll children have this game, and it seems that it is a game that is not harmful to some extent, I tell myself that this game helps creativity and can be played with friends.

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Then there is tik tok and Instagram. My daughter is still underage, but she says all her friends have these apps. At first, I refused, but it worn out her persistence. It allowed her to have private accounts. I tell myself that she at least learns a few things and takes pictures. Then, she wanted to apply Snapchat! I only have to obey.

The hour I gave her seemed unrealistic and not enough anyway, and not using the phone after 7 pm was no longer working. My daughter comes home from school at 6:30 pm, then eats, takes a shower, and gets ready for bed. Therefore, she needs time to relax and be entertained. I adjusted the phone blocking time after XNUMX o'clock and we gave it another hour until XNUMX p.m., but that adjustment quickly got corrupted as well.

With time, we broke the rules, and I always quarreled with her over the phone, and sometimes I wanted to be nice to her and be happy, so I gave up something on the strict rules from her point of view.

I find myself giving up when I ask to pick up the phone during a family outing. She says she wants to take a tik-tok while we're in the woods among the scenic views, as well as take pictures for her Instagram account.

The behavior began to get worse, as she was no longer preparing to go out easily, as she was constantly looking at her phone screen, not brushing teeth or arranging bedding, and if she did something she had to cut it by holding the phone and looking at it. Even she no longer knows where her clothes, shoes or other things are, but the location of the phone is well known, and she does not leave the house without it.

Even when she goes to the park with friends, she spends half the time tik-tok. One night, I was finally able to check her screen time. I was horrified to find that she had spent nine hours on the phone that day.

I try to stay fun with her, but some days I'm so angry, I'm always pissed off at the way she uses the phone. I tell her that The iPhone is a wicked deviceIt steals your childhood, responds that I am absolutely right and swears it will reduce its use, but hollows.

Every once in a while, I take the phone and hide it. And you only find screaming and crying, and searching diligently all over the house as if it were Really addicted personUntil she said she hates me, and that I am the worst mom ever, then finally calms down and regrets.

Always ask her to create something like before or read a book. But it is useless. These works and these artistic creations have become household chores that she must finish quickly in order to return to her phone. And soon, until it completely abandoned these innovations.

My child who was reading in the bathroom no longer picks up a book unless she is threatened with pulling out her phone. I feel sad now because of what happened to my child, and how her old creations and works that she displays to visitors in all their details died, and instead she shows them the latest tik tok videos and other trivialities and nonsense.

This is a true story told by the regret of the parents of a child who was creative, smart and full of activity, but all that changed after she got an iPhone, tell us in the comments who blame! Do we blame ourselves, or society? And share the article in order to reach the largest number of people and be a source of awareness.

Source:

medium

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