We Pressed Delete on Endless Scrolling

We pressed delete on endless scrolling this summer and now the Surgeon General has our back. 

Instagram, Tik Tok, Reddit, YouTube, endlessly scrolling, his head hunched over staring at his Iphone screen, this was not the 'epic' summer I wanted for my 17-year-old son! Having purchased his own Iphone for his 13th birthday during the pandemic, our son was addicted to the dopamine hits his technology promised without fail. 

As parents, we had tried to 'wait til 8th' with our third child as we had our older two, though the pandemic lockdown just before his April birthday softened our stance. We hoped the Iphone would provide a virtual social media lifeline to his friends that his Tracfone flip phone couldn't replicate. Fast forward four years and we had a cell phone junkie with a Pavlovian response when his Iphone lit up. 

Averaging 200+ pickups a day, it pained me to see my son reach into his pocket for his Iphone, at the risk of boredom, walking from the car to the baseball field for practice. We had set limits of 4 hours a day on the Iphone, not more than 30 minutes an app and plug-in the office by 10pm at night, based on his junior year high school status, though addiction doesn't follow rules. 

"No parent wants to monitor your screen time,” I reminded my son. “Don't give us a reason to check your usage!" We were not the Life 360 track your kids kind of parents, preferring our kids have freedom to test boundaries and gain our trust. Afterall, we survived our Gen-X childhoods without the constant parental monitoring. Heck, I’m not sure my parents ever knew where I was! Now, I sounded like a broken record nagging daily screen time usage. Honestly, I only remembered to check screen usage when I caught him spending too much free time on his phone and his GPA and batting average started slipping. 

Who looks at TikTok for 3.5 hours a day? Apparently my son made it his pastime. Never thought we'd prefer him virtually gaming Rainbow Six Siege in a headset with his friends! Solitary consuming was now his preferred modus operandi, safe and secure and available 24/7.

Bummer, you lose your Iphone for a day, two days, a week. This was not the relationship we wanted with our teenage son nearing the end of high school. Hanging out at all with parents is a premium as kids prepare to fly the coop, and our screen limits only fostered heated exchanges worthy of Rainbow Six Siege minus the AK-47.

Earlier this month, I summoned the courage to parent like the Gen-X ‘summer’ mother of my youth and pressed delete. No more summer brain drain! Bruh. It was time to de-program our son of screen time addiction, before his younger brother turned 14 and purchased his first smartphone. (Yes, it's flipping awesome, we waited until 9th grade with our fourth!) 

We told our son to delete his scrolling apps as he had blown-up his screen limits too many times. Old school communication of talk and text would be allowed, and Snapchat too. (Parent Tip: create a family Snapchat; it's the fastest way to hear back from your kids!) Instagram, a college recruiting necessity to follow baseball players, but only if under 30 minutes! 

After my son momentarily lost his mind accusing us of unreasonable parenting, he deleted all the endless scrolling time-suck apps from his Iphone. His daily average phone pick-ups are down 75%, with only 33 Iphone reactive grabs yesterday. He's more focused on 'outside' activities and his job search. We even managed a 'Forced Family Fun' bike ride on Father's Day and multiple ping-pong tournaments outside after dinner. 

Is technology perfect in our household with teens? No. My 17-year-old now sleeps in and his couch potato t.v. status reminds me of my parents' irritation. Meanwhile my youngest has found a way to watch YouTube shorts on the t.v. even if we don't allow it on his Iphone. Technology helps teens challenge us in ways our parents will never understand, though that's to be expected. Our job is to parent with boundaries and stay one step ahead of the game!

Today I'm thankful for Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy’s call for warning labels on social media platforms. Infinite scrolling, he says “preys on developing brains and contributes to excessive use.” Dr. Murthy's timely stance provides scientific evidence we can show our teens about the dangers of social media that can harm their mental health and developing brains. Remember when warning labels appeared on cigarette packages rebranding them as dangerous for our health? 

Parenting is hard and having the Surgeon General in our corner is ‘no cap’ kids! Solid evidence there is logic behind our parental controls, boundaries, and unplugged family fun. After all, we’re Gen-X boredom bustin’ entrepreneurs. Endless scrolling aside, it’s time to ‘level up’ and prepare for our next parenting challenge!