Why Parents Should Never Look at Their Phones in Front of Children

A woman’s decision to simply watch her children play led her to an important realization about the harm caused to her family by excessive cell phone use.

In a Nov. 2 post on Facebook that has since gone viral, San Diego mom Brandie Wood shared her observations on an experiment she conducted with her 2-year-old twin sons.

Today I did an experiment, I watched my boys play. As I sat quietly in the corner of the room I tallied how many times…

Posted by Brandie Wood on Monday, November 2, 2015

“As I sat quietly in the corner of the room I tallied how many times they looked at me for various reasons: to see if I saw their cool tricks, to seek approval or disapproval for what they were doing, and to watch my reactions.” she wrote. “I couldn’t help but wonder if I was on some sort of technology what message would I have been sending?”

The photo in the Facebook posts shows a hand-done tally of 28. For Wood, that meant 28 times her boys “would have not received the attention most adults are searching for.”

The young mother ended her post by urging other parents to “down your technology and spend some time with your family & loved ones.” She added, “The next generation of children is counting on us to teach them how to be adults, don’t be too busy on social media, you never know who is watching and what message you are sending.”

Wood’s post has been shared over 71,000 times since its posting a little over a week ago.

The full text of Wood’s post is below.

“Today I did an experiment, I watched my boys play. As I sat quietly in the corner of the room I tallied how many times they looked at me for various reasons: to see if I saw their cool tricks, to seek approval or disapproval for what they were doing, and to watch my reactions. I couldn’t help but wonder if I was on some sort of technology what message would I have been sending? 28 times my angels would have wondered if the World Wide Web was more important than them. 28 times my boys would have not received the attention most adults are searching for. 28 times my loves would have questioned if they were alone emotionally. 28 times my kids would have been reassured that who you are online is what really matters. In a world where we are accepted as who people perceive us to be and not who we really are, in a world where validation comes from how many followers or likes we have, in a world where quality time with loved ones is being replaced by isolation and text messages from the other room, I beg you to be different. Please put down your technology and spend some time with your family & loved ones. The next generation of children is counting on us to teach them how to be adults, don’t be too busy on social media, you never know who is watching and what message you are sending.”

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