Mum bans her son’s phone… and his behaviour transforms!

I bet you’re battling it !  A teenager who just won’t get off their smartphone! ????

I talking on BBC Radio Tees about  Karly Tophill  a Mum who imposed a dramatic year-long ban to separate her teenage son from his iPhone, she was shocked by the change in his behaviour.

Within six weeks she said 13-year-old Dylan seemed happier, more talkative and more energetic, did better with homework and even volunteered to help her with household chores.

Now Karly, 41, is encouraging other parents to introduce one ‘phone free’ day a week for their families to see if they spot similar benefits.
Dylan used to spend two hours a day playing games on his phone and his mother said she worried he was rushing through homework to get back to using social media.

It would be a struggle to get him off the gadget to get ready for school in the mornings, the mother-of-two said.

She said: ‘Dylan was spending a lot of time on his phone and I wasn’t comfortable with that.

‘He was using it too much. He’d be coming home from school and using it to play games for about two hours in the evening, and in the morning.

‘Deep down, I didn’t think he liked being contacted constantly. He felt pressured to reply to friends.’

Finally, in October, she confiscated his iPhone 4 and imposed a year-long ban, which she admitted was unpopular at first.

But just six weeks later she noticed he was playing more with his younger brother Marley, 10, and spending more time outside and on his homework.

Karly, who lives with her two sons and their father Sam Kissling, 41, near Penzance in Cornwall, said the teenager had even told his father he thought he was better off without the phone.

She said: ‘Dylan has always been a happy child but I would say he is more engaged and energetic, more up for doing things.

‘He seems to have much more energy, and he takes much more time with homework now because he isn’t in a hurry to get it over with so he can check his Instagram.

‘He often says the kids are on their phones a lot a school, checking social media accounts. I think it’s making a big difference with him not having it in the classroom.

‘Now he’s even up for doing housework. When he gets bored he will ask if I need help with housework and he will end up Hoover-ing our entire home.’

The yoga teacher said the experiment had worked so well that she had now relented over the year-long ban and reduced it to three months.

How do you cope ?

Could you go cold turkey or even feel brave enough to instil a ban for a day a week in your house ?
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4023070/Mum-bans-son-s-phone-behaviour-transforms-Yoga-teacher-encourages-families-follow-suit-teenager-happier-talkative-energetic.html#ixzz4SejY1eq1
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