How many times a day do you check your mobile? Do you usually read the notifications immediately or do you program yourself to have certain schedules or time limits to review it? Sometimes we don't realize it, and spend more time on it than we think.
"I hate my mom's cell phone and wish she didn't have one", is a phrase that we can read in the writing made by a child as part of an exercise in class. We share the powerful message that we could all read, about the excessive use of mobile phones in front of our children.
As part of an exercise in class, second grade teacher Jen Adams asked her students to write a short essay with the following theme: If there was an invention that you wish it didn't exist, what would it be?
To the surprise of the teacher, 4 of its 21 students responded that this invention would be the motive of their parents. But it is the essay of one of his students in particular, which is not specified if he is a boy or a girl, which became viral due to the overwhelming message that leaves us all.
If I had to tell you an invention that I don't like, I would say I don't like mobile phones. I don't like mobile because my parents are in it all day. A mobile is sometimes a bad habit. I hate my mom's cell phone and wish she didn't have one. That is an invention that I don't like.
In addition to the clear message of disagreement, the student added a drawing of a telephone, which he marked with a large X on it, accompanied by another drawing of a sad face saying "I hate it"It is certainly a very strong message for all fathers and mothers.
Are we aware of the time we spend in front of the mobile?
What does this tell us? That we are spending too much time in front of our mobiles. Time that we could be taking advantage of to talk, play or learn with our children. Time that passes and will not return.
"I must drop the phone a little more"It is a phrase that I have found telling myself on more than one occasion. And it is that in addition to facilitating some things from my day to day and being a great work tool, sometimes the minutes fly by and I do not give myself account of the time I've been stuck to that little screen.
A few days ago I shared a study in which I talked about how the use of smartphones made us more distracted as parents and prevented us from creating a close connection to our children. Basically mobiles make us absent parents.
We can have many opportunities to be with our children, whether we have a job with flexible schedules or do not make any weekend plans to dedicate to our family. But it is useless to spend all the time in the world with our children, if we are more aware of what happens on our mobile.
And worst of all, our children resent it and it affects them negatively. Not only because of various studies that we have shared and that show how our relationship with them affects. But because seeing that we are mentally away from them, they feel ignored and sad to see how we prefer to see that little screen instead of focusing on them.
How to decrease mobile use
It may seem a bit absurd to have to learn how to stop using the phone so often or with time, but I think that in addition to helping us to leave it a little longer, we can learn to be more organized.
For example, we can start with set schedules to review it and do everything we need in it, so when the time comes to be with our children, devote ourselves fully to them.
Another good idea could be the turn off notifications of certain applications. Most social media notifications like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram are not usually urgent and can wait, so one way to avoid distractions would be to disable them.
If for work reasons we must respond to that call or message at the time, let's do it respectfully towards those who are with us: apologizing for a few minutes, attending to or resolving the situation and then returning our attention to them.
Disconnecting from the mobile has many benefits, both for our children and for us. Let's avoid that our phone becomes an object that our children hate to see and that affects our relationship with them.
Photos | iStock
Via | Honey
In Babies and more | It doesn't affect your cell phone that you don't pay attention to your children, "I was being the father I never wanted to be", a father's message about the use of cell phones in front of our children,
