Should I Just Smash My Kid’s Phone?

Last updated on: May 2, 2013 at 1:01 am by Jonathan McKee

Should I Just Smash My Kid’s Phone? 2013-04-30T18:20:09-06:00 Jonathan McKee

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I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard it.

I finish teaching a parent workshop or answering a parent’s question about social media, and the parent will just shake their head and ask, “Wouldn’t it just be easier if I just smashed my kid’s phone!”

I think most parents of teenagers have felt this way at one time or another.

Unfortunately, responsibility isn’t genetic. Parents often ask us, “Why isn’t my kid more responsible?” Or they’ll say, “I wish my child were better at making decisions!” Unfortunately, kids aren’t born with those skills. They need parents to teach them.

Now add technology into the mix. Kids have so much power and freedom contained in the small phone they keep in their pocket… and they’re encountering distractions unlike any previous generation. Parents don’t want to overreact, but they are desperate for some realistic and fair guidelines. They’re asking questions like:

It is fair to check my duaghter’s text messages?
How long is too long for my son to spend on his social networking site each day?
Can I change or adjust rules for each one of my kids, depending on their personality and struggles? My daughter is nothing like my son.
My 11-year-old wants a phone, and literally all of her friends have one. Should I buy her one?

Don’t worry. You’re not alone.

That’s why my friend Doug Fields and I just wrote the book, Should I Just Smash My Kid’s Phone? Dive into this extremely practical guide and learn how to…

Teach your kids lasting values that shape their decisions.
Empower your kids with age appropriate freedom while equipping them to make decisions on their own.
Implement some fair and realistic guardrails keeping our kids from veering off course.
Get your kids to come up with their own consequences to irresponsible behavior.

(The book also includes s SAMPLE PHONE CONTRACT, a SOCIAL MEDIA DISCUSSION GUIDE and other helpful tools for today’s parents)

NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER AND SHIPPING NEXT WEEK

Jonathan McKee

Parenting

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