Hang up on constant smartphone use

Are we raising digital monsters? Absolutely. And everyone from parents to Facebook and society as a whole is to blame.

Instead of playing the blame game, I think the most constructive way forward is to take every opportunity we — not just parents — have to put the phone down. In the bedroom. While driving. During meals and conversations. And, perhaps most importantly, when kids are watching.

“My kids have said something about (me being on my phone),” said Catherine Wood Larsen, a San Diegoarea parent of two teens. “I’m just like everybody else. I will sit at a red light and look at my phone. But when there are other people’s kids in the car, my phone is totally put away.”

Aside from modeling to younger generations a kind of life that isn’t dictated by devices, the simplest reason to go deviceless is this: We are happier when we’re disconnected.

There is research that demonstrates that most everything you do on a screen is correlated with unhappiness. Think about that the next time you default to your phone to kill time. You might not feel compelled to change your behavior just yet, but just being aware of these kinds of tendencies can effect gradual change.

I’m not advocating for a complete smartphone or social media blackout. At this point, there is no going back.

I’d just like us to agree to be cognizant and recognize det- rimental impulses when they strike. Maybe then we can actually retrain ourselves, and our kids, to put our phones down when it matters and see life beyond the screen.