Do you have a good relationship with your family? Do you see them as your annoying relatives or loved ones? Some of us have a positive opinion while others...not so much. Stereotypically in the teenage stage of your life, the media presents teens to have quite a bad relationship with parents and family; this could include many mood swings, tantrums, and arguments- however, what could be the real reason that teenagers are so distanced from their nearest and dearest? Well, the one that is the most familiar (and not surprising) with it being a favorite of parents is the use of a mobile phone. Statistics show that 50% of teens which is a big percentage and 27% of parents feel they are addicted to their mobile devices. In addition, nearly 80% of teens check their phones hourly while 72% feel the need to respond immediately to a text. This is a huge percentage and proves just how addicting social media is and how it creates less and less time for us to spend with the people we love. The surprising aspect you may find is that yes, even parents themselves get addicted to their phones and it's becoming more ordinary for parents to be interested more in their social media than their children. So how could we solve this problem? First of all, the reason why we are so obsessed is that we have constant access to new information every day which makes spending time online intriguing and exciting but without setting boundaries we tend to head down a never-ending slope. To limit this from happening one piece of advice to follow is to limit posting on social media to 2-4 times a week, if manageable. This will make you more specific about what you post and will also result in less time spent on looking at other people's posts. Furthermore, when you are at home and feel the sudden urge to grab your device, instead of doing that it is best to go outside and do simple activities like go for a walk or exercise. This would be beneficial because the dopamine in our brains is stimulated by the volatility that social media and texting provide- to present the same effect doing stimulus activities such as jogging and going outside would break that cycle and would be much more worthwhile. Also personally I feel that technological things such as phones and tablets etc should not be used as a pathway to distance yourself from anyone; instead they should be used to bring everyone together, for example watching a movie or TV show with family. Overall, these were just some tips to help with less usage of mobile phones so, in the long run, they do not become a reason for the neglecting of your close friends and family.
