Sweden urges parents to restrict phone use around children

He’s dad also have strict rules that sometimes he wants to do his own things. Like watching tv, read the news paper and have a beer. Boundaries people !

No, this is not the issue and the article expounds on that.

The tl;dr is that kids mirror their parents’ behaviors. If a parent spends multiple hours per day on their phone, the kid thinks that’s what they should do as well.

The research showed that parents’ screen use could negatively affect their interactions with their children, and also established a connection between parents’ and children’s screen habits, with the children of heavy users developing similar habits themselves.

As another Lemmite mentioned, kids are learning behaviour from their parents.

Kind of, but primarily that the usage habits of parents shape those of the kids.

Rough translation of some of the (to me) salient content because I can’t be arsed to manually translate all of it.

The mobile phone is a part of every day life for parents and other adults in the proximity of the child. However, the way adults use their screens when they’re with their children ca affect both their relationship and the child’s own habits. It’s the starting point when FHM (Ministry of The People’s Health) update their recommendations surrounding the screen habits of parents.

• Create good screen habits for yourself. They affect the child’s screen habits.
• Put away the mobile phone when you’re with your child. Use it only if you need, or when you use it together.
• Protect and respect your child on the internet. Consider for a while before you upload images of videos.

Studies show that parents screen usage can affect dynamics with children negatively. In experimental studies, scientists have seen that young children more often react with crying and irritation, and more seldomly with smiles and laughter, when a parent interrupts an interaction to use their mobile phone. The scientists have also observed connections between the screen habits of parents and children, where children of parents with high screen time use screens more themselves.

Statistics from the media ministry show that a lot of parents themselves perceive that their mobile phone usage is a problem. More than half of the parents with children between 0 and 12 years old state that they spend too much time on their phones. In prior focus groups children have also described frustration over parents mobile phone usage.

Today I learned that FHM has an entire section on digital media and health. It looks like a really good resource for people.

It’s a fantastic ministry, I wish our politicians would fucking listen to them more often.

Stop ignoring your kids, people!

My kids can get kinda annoying and sometimes I need a break