Your Tween vs. Your Phone: They Look Just Like You

What to do when your tween has their own device and you can see your own habits coming back at you, and the words to start the conversation honestly.

This week’s scenario

Your tween has had their own phone or tablet for a few months now. Maybe a year. Long enough that the novelty has worn off and the device has become an extension of their arm, and it’s how they exist in your house now. They check it the way you check yours. They scroll at the dinner table the way you do. They glance down at it mid-conversation the way you do. They reach for it when they’re bored, when they’re uncomfortable, when they don’t want to be engage with whatever else is happening in the room. The same way you do.

You can see it. You can see your own habits coming back at you in a smaller body. And you’re not sure what to do with it, because every time you try to correct it, you feel uneasy and know that they’re noticing the difference between what you’re asking them to do and what you’re doing yourself.

Listen to the podcast

---

Scripts