Want to avoid giving your kid a smartphone? Mental health experts say you're not alone — and have 5 tips

It's hard to avoid giving your child a smartphone in this new digital age, but some parents around the world are looking to buck the trend and seek out guidance on how to protect their kids from the, a recently founded U.K. organization is aimed at uniting parents who are not giving their kids smartphones. It has since expanded internationally as research around the topic grows.

"There were no seatbelts, there were no airbags. The construction of the chassis made people vulnerable and in recognizing the vulnerabilities that came along with this tremendous technological innovation, we instituted regulations and better design and policies that protected the health and wellbeing of drivers and passengers. We're in the earliest days with cell phones and technology broadly where we need to do the same," she said.

"If your child is the only one without a smartphone, that may present a whole additional set of stressors for your child," she added.Children who don't have a smartphone will need to replace that behavior with other forms of entertainment, the experts said. One idea includes forming a group of parents who organize play dates at each other's houses every week where the children go outside and play while the parents stay indoors.

Pike said that even making a habit of giving a bored child a smartphone as entertainment can become a major issue down the line. "Focus on what you can control and part of that is trying to model yourself as using technology well as a parent. So it's keeping your own phone out of the bedroom at night — that's something kids can see. Or during dinner, keep the phones away," he said.Your child or teen will likely have a tantrum or put up a fuss about not being given a smartphone — it's hardly a conversation that will go smoothly — but it's important to not give into their demands, Rausch said.

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