Technology: A tool or a distraction?

Is Technology a distraction for your Child? Is homework taking hours every night? Is your kid waking up tired because their sleep is being disrupted by devices or notifications? 

These are serious questions parents have regarding their young tween or teenager. I frequently hear these issues brought up by parents as a major concern of technology; Is it a distraction for my kid? 

Tips to help your kids find balance with Technology: 

• Turn off the Wifi: Have kids do their offline work first (even an online assignment or post can be written separately and then uploaded) to help them focus on the task at hand. 
• Remove other devices: If they are working on the computer, the phone doesn't need to be right next to them. It will only be a cause of distraction if a notification comes up. If they insist on having it next to them, turn on the ‘Do not disturb’ setting to help minimize distractions. 
• Make them sit in the kitchen or dinning room instead of their room: Some kids need a little help staying on task and being in the same room will help. 
• Use apps, settings or website blockers to block distractions: Along with turning off WifI you can use tools like Freedom or Leechblock or screen-time limits to block out the distractions. While not all kids will appreciate these tools, it’s nice to know they are available if needed.  
• Model for your kids: It’s important that kids see you putting your phone away during screen free time/ family time or meals. I also found talking about how my productivity goes down when I’m distracted by social media or checking email if I’m in the middle of writing and have a deadline due. 
• Setting time limits: Again this depends on the kid, but setting a time limit for the online work can help some kids focus on the task at hand. 
• Print text: Some kids have a hard time focusing when reading text and articles online. The environmentalist in me hates suggesting this strategy but the teacher in me knows that some learners benefit from having the physical paper in front of them. This allows them to highlight and take notes and takes away the temptation factor when reading text online.  

Every child is different and limiting tech distractions will vary based on the child. It’s easy to get frustrated with our children's inability to focus when using Technology and devices. Instead of getting frustrated try helping them set up strategies for removing distractions. In a 2017 Study of College students published in the Journal of Social Psychological and Personality the authors found that successful goal- attainment was not in fact due to ones self-control but actually attributed to eliminating temptation (aka distractions). As parents we can start teaching strategies to eliminate distractions when our kids are young so that they can be successful when they get to college and beyond. If we take away the idea that self- control is linked to success and emphasis eliminating distractions, we are giving our children tangible strategies they can use to attain their goals. 

Milyavskaya, M., & Inzlicht, M. (2017). What’s So Great About Self-Control? Examining the Importance of Effortful Self-Control and Temptation in Predicting Real-Life Depletion and Goal Attainment. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 8(6), 603–611. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550616679237