Oh, absolutely. Like I alluded to, I don’t think this is a very good tactic to get kids to learn to be without their phones. But it means people are thinking about it, and hopefully more tools will emerge – time monitoring apps, lock-boxes by the front door – as well as, more importantly, a societal push to use them.
I understand phone addiction, even in its minor form. My wife and I both find ourselves absentmindedly pulling out our phones to scroll through social media when we’re playing with our kids. We both get defensive when the other one points it out, but only because we know it’s true. And I see other parents do this all the time, as well as people pulling out a phone to scroll while currently engaged in a conversation with real-live people. We aren’t the worst – we don’t have our phones out at the table, or in bed – but I see this kind of addictive behavior everywhere, and I know my wife’s students can’t live without their phones.
