Protecting Children From Excessive Smartphone Use Requires Smart Habits, Not Just Smart Devices

DHAKA:

Smartphones have become an integral part of childhood, offering children access to education, information, entertainment and communication. But as screen time expands, families face a growing challenge: how to ensure technology remains a useful tool without allowing it to displace sleep, study, physical activity, creativity and meaningful family interaction.

The answer may not lie in taking smartphones away altogether. For children and teenagers under 18, experts and parents increasingly need to focus on establishing healthy digital routines, setting clear boundaries and creating attractive alternatives to screen-based entertainment.

The goal is not to keep children away from technology, but to help them learn how to use it responsibly.

Set boundaries, not simply bans

A practical starting point is to establish clear family rules about when and where smartphones can be used.

Study time, mealtimes and bedtime can be designated as screen-free periods. Families can also encourage children to put their devices away at least an hour before going to sleep.

Such rules are more likely to work when children understand their purpose. A screen-free period should not be presented simply as a punishment or deprivation, but as an opportunity to sleep, concentrate, play and spend time with others.

Replace screen time with real-world activities

Reducing smartphone use becomes considerably easier when children have other activities they genuinely enjoy.

Sports, reading, drawing, music, dancing and other creative pursuits can provide alternatives to scrolling through videos or playing games. Time spent with friends and family can also strengthen social connections while giving children experiences that cannot be replicated on a screen.

Simply removing a smartphone without offering alternatives may leave children bored and more likely to return to it. Building an engaging routine outside the digital world is therefore an important part of managing screen use.

Children learn from what adults do

Parents and other adults in the household also play a central role.

Children often imitate behaviour they observe at home. If adults constantly check their phones during meals, conversations or family time, asking children to disconnect may send a contradictory message.

One practical approach is to establish a family-wide “no mobile hour”, during which everyone puts their devices aside. It could be during dinner, in the evening or at another mutually agreed time.

The principle is simple: digital boundaries are easier to establish when they apply to the whole family rather than only to children.

Keep phones away during study

When a smartphone is not needed for schoolwork, keeping it in another room can help create a more focused study environment.

Parents can also use built-in screen-time controls or other digital tools to establish reasonable usage limits. But technology alone cannot manage a child’s relationship with technology.

Regular conversations remain essential. Children should be helped to understand both the benefits of being online and the potential problems associated with excessive use, including lost time and reduced attention to other parts of daily life.

Avoid making the phone the reward

Praise can be a powerful way to reinforce healthy habits. Parents may also offer small, non-digital rewards when children consistently follow agreed rules.

But using smartphone access as the main reward—or taking the device away as the primary punishment—can inadvertently make the phone even more valuable in a child’s eyes.

Instead, rewards can involve a favourite book, an outing, a game, a creative activity or simply special time with family.

Guidance works better than confrontation

Taking a phone away may be easy. Helping a child understand why limits are necessary is more difficult—and potentially more constructive.

Strict bans can sometimes create resistance. A more collaborative approach is to involve children in setting reasonable household rules and explaining the reasons behind them.

Parents should also take an interest in their children’s digital lives: what they watch, what they learn, whom they communicate with and what experiences they encounter online. Open, age-appropriate conversations can help children develop the judgement they need to navigate the digital environment safely.

The solution is a healthier relationship with technology

Technology is now part of everyday life, and keeping children completely disconnected from it is neither practical nor necessarily desirable.

What matters is helping them develop the ability to recognise when technology is useful and when it is time to put the device down.

A smartphone does not automatically make a child “smart”. Digital maturity means knowing how to balance screen-based activities with sleep, education, exercise, creativity, relationships and experiences in the real world.

For parents, the challenge is therefore not simply to control a device, but to help shape a child’s habits.

The most effective tool for protecting children from excessive smartphone use may not be another app or a stricter device—it may be a supportive family, clear boundaries and smart habits.