Australian family goes screen-free after giving 10 year old smart phone and regretting it

Aalia begged and begged for a smartphone. Her parents gave in only to watch their child slip away so they decided to take screens out of the equation altogether.

Parents Dany and Cynthia Elachi regretted relenting to their eldest daughter’s begging for a smartphone, saying it was bringing her childhood to a “crushing end”.

“Even though we had rules about when (Aalia) should use it, how often she should use it, where she shouldn’t be using it … the pull of the phone is very great,” Mr Elachi said.

“We saw that she was less engaged with the family.

“She was reading less, playing less with her siblings, not helping with dinner, (she was not) doing the things that she would do ordinarily when she was at home with the family.”

Rules were set around Aalia’s phone use but her parents found they did not work with the pre-teen even being caught messaging “under the covers” at night when she should be sleeping.

Dany and Cynthia Elachi, with their eldest daughter Aalia. Picture: Justin Lloyd

While Aalia was originally upset by the loss of her device, her parents believe the decision saved her of “social dramas and bad sleep”, which they see as a blessing.

None of the family’s five children own a smartphone, with other screen use also limited in the household.

The Sydney based family is rare with only 1 in 50 children having zero daily screen time according to the News Corp Great Australian Parent Survey 2025.

More than half of parents report their children spend between one to four hours using a tablet, computer, phone or watching television every day.

Dany and Cynthia Elachi with their five children. Picture: Supplied

Aalia was 10 when she first got her smart-phone and when the phone malfunctioned, the parents-of-five saw their chance to reverse their original decision.

“We just took that opportunity to reassess the whole question, and decided that we weren’t going to buy her a new phone and that we were going to have a few more years … of childhood,” Mr Elachi said.

“We did feel like her childhood was slowly coming to a crushing end.”

Aalia, now 15, still doesn’t have a smartphone, instead using a basic Nokia mobile in emergencies.

“(The Nokia) is so boring for her that she would rather die than be caught with it,” Mr Elachi said.

“Often at times it’s just down the very bottom of her bag because she just doesn’t want anyone to see that she’s even got it.”

Dany Elachi from the Heads Up Alliance addresses the Social Media Summit at ICC Darling Harbour Sydney. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

To help dull the blow of Aalia losing her smartphone, five years ago, Mr and Mrs Elachi spoke with fellow parents about also delaying their decision to give a device to their children.

“We try to say to our kids that this is not just a negative, it’s not a ‘no’,” Mr Elachi said.

“It’s actually allowing us to say ‘yes’ to so many things that you should be doing so that you can have an adventurous childhood.”

The Elachis now run The Heads Up Alliance, which provides parents and families with resources about the dangers of providing smartphones to kids and allowing social media access.

What started as a local movement has grown across the nation as parents take the pledge to give their children a “few extra years” of childhood.