How to Stop Teenage Cell Phone Addiction

Nowadays, smartphone takes too much time of teenage. Whatever they are doing, walking, working, crossing the street, eating, they are looking at their phones. This is called smatphone addiction. That means teens can’t stop using their phones. Cellphone has become a part of the body. Most teenage think they use mobile phones to relax from stress. However, excessive phone play can be more anxious and stressful. It's natural for parents to wonder if a teen's apparent obsession with a smartphone is diagnosed as addictive behavior. Teens can't peel their eyes away from their phone, what should parents do?

Part 1. Get to Know the Status of Teenage Cell Phone Addiction

Results of a 2016 Common Sense Media Report found that 50 percent of teens “feel addicted” to mobile devices, while 59 percent of parents surveyed believe that kids are addicted to their devices. This survey also showed that 72 percent of teens and 48 percent of parents feel the need to immediately respond to texts, social-networking messages, and other notifications; 69 percent of parents and 78 percent of teens check their devices at least hourly.

A 2018 Pew Research Report showed that 45 percent of teens said they use the Internet “almost constantly,” and another 44 percent said they go online several times a day. According to this report, 50 percent of teenage girls are “near-constant” online users, compared to 39 percent of teenage boys. 95 percent of teens have access to a smartphone.

Teens use smartphones with different purposes. Some are for recreational activities and others are for academic study. The most important thing is to keep the balance between purposes. However, how many teenagers can control themselves very well and keep a balance between learning and entertainment? Many teenagers spend a bundle of time on things unrelated to study, like chatting, watching movies, playing games, binge-watching and so on. Physical fatigue and some health problems are related to cell phone addiction. So parents are anxious for teenage cell phone addiction.

Part 2. Use a Parental Control App for Cell Phone Addiction Treatment

SpyX is a reliable parental control app for tracking phones. It has strong tracking features, such as track GPS locations, view calendars, events, notes, read text messages. Follow the steps to track all activities on child's phone remotely:

Step 1. Sign up free.

Step 2. Purchase suitable monthly plan.

Step 3. Bind SpyX with target phone.

Step 4. Relaxed to track.

1.Know what they are doing on the phone.

As a parental control monitor, SpyX can relieve much stress for parents and make no secrets on kid’s iPhone. For example, parents can browse photos to see who their child stay with, where child go in recent days, what they do in spare time.

2.Track messages.

Teens are willing to send messages more than chat face-to-face. SpyX can track sent, received messages, event deleted messages. Through reading these messages, parents make a clearer understanding of the child’s inner world. On the surface they do nothing but bow to play mobile phones, they may be hiding their inner anxiety and panic, while parents don't know the real reason. Maybe message can reveal more content that children do not want to express.

3.Know where they are.

SpyX can track GPS locations and Find my iPhone. Thus parents can know where their kid is and make sure whether the kid goes out for activities or stay in the bar during class time.

Part 3. How to Stop Teenage Cell Phone Addiction

It's important for parents to guide teens take control of mobile use, create and maintain a healthy balance. Here are some tips to follow:

1. Get rid of apps that take up too much time

Children are addicted in social apps, such as WhatsApp, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, Tinder, iMessage, Kik. Parents should help teens uninstall some amusement App.

2. Turn of notifications

Many teens are anxious for missing messages, so they stared at the phone or frequently look up messages. It is a practical way for teens to turn of notifications, keep peace mind and focus on their study.

3. Give them real-world hobbies to turn to

Take an active part in extracurricular activities to keep teenagers away from their mobile phones. Chat with friends face to face, enjoy the dinner with parents together. Come into real-world and experience true life instead of virtual world in the internet and mobile.

Part 4. What Are Symptoms of Teenage Cell Phone Addiction

Parents want to recognize the symptoms of cell phone addiction for earlier stop. Potential symptoms might include the following:

1. They're constantly looking to plug in.

Playing cellphone for a long time consumes a lot of power. So the phone needs to be charged times per day for normal use.

2. They check their phone for messages, even when there’s no notification.

This is a typical symptom of anxiety caused by overuse of mobile phones. They are focused on their phones all the time and are afraid to miss any messages.

3. They use their phone while driving.

Over-reliant on mobile phones sometimes makes them forget about their safety. Even when they are driving, they use phones to surf the internet, read emails, send messages and etc.

4. They use their phone while walking or crossing the street.

Maybe they don't realize that they are waling when whey walk across the street. They only bow the head to play cell phone, ignore the friend standing by and even don't hear what the friend just says.

5. They're not sleeping as much.

Phone takes much time of their life. But it is only 24 hours a day. More time on cellphone, less time on sleeping. They don't have enough time to have a good rest, thus looks very haggard and worn.

It can be difficult to distinguish between normal (or slightly elevated) daily use and problematic use. It helps to ask yourself the following questions:

1. Does my teen become angry, irritable, anxious, or even violent when the phone is taken away or unable to be used?

2. Does my teen skip or avoid social events or extracurricular activities to use the smartphone instead?

3. Is my teen’s personal care (hygiene), friendships, family relationships, or school work negatively affected by smartphone use?

4. Does smartphone use interfere with my teen's normal sleep routine?

5. Are there any major changes in my teen’s eating habits that can’t otherwise be explained?

Part 5. Final Thought about Teen Cell Phone Addiction

In fact, with the popularity of mobile phones and the development of the Internet, teen cell addiction is only going to get worse. Thus parents should pay more attention to the problem. SpyX phone tracker can help parents solve some problems, but tool can’t replace parents totally. So parents should spend more time with their friends, listen to them patiently, chat with them sincerely and show unconditional love for children, rather than bow to play phone without noticing the child. After all, parents are the best teachers for their children. Children can be great when parents lead by example.

FAQs

Q1. What is the fastest way to get rid of phone addiction?

1. Keep yourself on a schedule.

2. Turn off as many push notifications as possible.

3. Take distracting apps off your home screen.

4. Kick your device out of bed.

5. If you have a smart speaker, put it to use.

6. Try turning on your phone's grayscale.

7. Stay accountable.

Q2. What causes phone addiction?

For many people, social interaction stimulates the release of dopamine. Because so many people use their phones as tools of social interaction, they become accustomed to constantly checking them for that hit of dopamine that's released when they connect with others on social media or some other app.

Q3. What are the effects of phones on teens?

The researchers also found that teens who used social media multiple times per day were more likely to report psychological distress, less life satisfaction, less happiness and more anxiety than those who used it only weekly or less often.

Q4. What do you do if your child is addicted to their phone?

1. Encourage creativity.

2. Stick to set limits.

3. Give kids more say about smartphone use.

4. Treat devise abuse like other addictions.

Q5. Should parents check their child's phone?

Yes, parents should check their child's phone use and monitor their internet activity. Above all else, it is the fundamental duty of any responsible parents to protect their children from potential harm. In today's world checking a child's phone is a massive part of that responsibility.