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Could too much tech time lead to unruly behavior or even worse in your child?

An Iowa teenager recently ran away from home after his parents stole his cell phone.

As reported by most major outlets, the 13-year-old was found dead around five days later.

While no one will ever know what really caused this child’s death, and several issues may have influenced his behavior, the taking away of his cell phone was certainly a factor contributing to a dispute between the child and his parents.

Nowadays, many teenagers get addicted to their tech gadgets from a young age. Many parents give their children iPads and tablets by the age of 2, some even younger.

Studies are appearing that point to the problems associated with tech addiction.

Too much device time can lead to slow social skills development and a lack of communication. It can also have long-term physical effects on brain development and related problems.

Here are five helpful tips to reduce technology dependency and encourage healthy conversations.

1. Give very young children blocks and toys, not gadgets. The best toys will engage a child’s senses, stimulate their imagination and encourage them to interact with others. As they grow, toddlers can use toys to explore the permanence of objects and cause-and-effect relationships. They also need items like blocks to build motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

2. Parents need to put down their devices and lead by example. Society’s demands can be tough, but mom and dad need to stay away from their devices and talk to their kids. Create device-free times around dinner and later. Keep your kids engaged by playing board games and other conversation-encouraging activities. Work-related messages can always be answered after the kids have gone to bed.

3. Consider giving your child/teen a clamshell phone instead of a smartphone. A clamshell phone encourages more conversations and discourages internet access and app use. If you need to provide your child with a phone because you don’t have a landline and your child is left at home alone, or you need to pick up your child from school or practice and need to be able to communicate, a flip phone will suffice.

4 Maintain “device boundaries” between your child and their friends so they don’t dominate their lives. When planning playdates, sleepovers, and social outings, ask parents about their device policies and respect them. Don’t allow your child to bring their device to a friend’s house if that family has a device-free policy. If you need to reach your child, get the parent’s phone number to reach your child.

5. Learn how to limit screen time and block content. If you have concerns about the technology, but not to the point where you feel they need to be taken all together, find out about the best products out there for blocking content, enforcing screen time restrictions, etc. Some good apps for this are Circle , and Barke.

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