Children’s increasing reliance on smartphones is becoming a growing concern for many parents.
Kids reliance on smartphones is a growing concern for parents
Experts say families are increasingly worried about how much time young people spend on screens and the potential impact on wellbeing, sleep and school performance.
Natalie Costa, founder of Power Thoughts, told Savoo that the challenge for parents is not simply removing devices, but helping children build healthier habits around technology that is designed to capture attention.
She told the LBC: “First of all, this is not about demonising phones. Phones are part of modern life - what we are really looking at is how we help children build capacity around something that is designed to hook their attention.
“Young brains are still developing impulse control and reward regulation, so the pull of constant novelty is genuinely harder for them to manage.”
Costa said parents should begin by understanding how their children use their phones and what they enjoy about being online before setting limits around screen time.
She warned that short-form video platforms can be particularly difficult for young users to switch off from.
She said: “Short form content tends to be the most difficult for young people to disengage from. Platforms built around endless scrolling and quick bursts of novelty such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and Snapchat make it very hard for the brain to stop.”
Costa added that parents should watch for warning signs that screen use may be becoming unhealthy.
She said: “If you are seeing intense distress when the phone is removed; ongoing irritability, frustration after being online, withdrawal from family or social events, disrupted sleep, shifts in mood or a drop in school performance or attendance - these are all signals that something is out of balance.”
Healthy phone use does not mean avoiding screens entirely, but being able to put devices down, tolerate time offline and continue engaging in friendships, hobbies and activities away from screens.