“I don’t know how to explain it, but something is wrong with my son,” one mother told me, fighting back her tears. “He’s a good student, he does his chores, he used to be so sensitive and caring. But I feel like I’m losing him. His video games are the center of his universe now and he’s losing his connection with us.”
This desperate mom claimed her son was depressed and seemed to be disappearing into another world. She was sharing what so many parents wish they could share, but don’t due to the current cultural norms. We, as a society, have accepted the idea that screens are harmless and part of every child’s day-to-day life so we are afraid to admit that our child might have a screen dependency. And the industries responsible for producing and marketing this technology have not been transparent about the known risks. So, how do you help your child? How do you rescue him or her from our screen-driven culture? How do you get your child to join the family at the dinner table and participate in family celebrations again? How do you reclaim your kids from their screens so they’ll find joy in real-life activities again?…