Screen addiction: New children’s book The Way We Have Fun breaking the cycle in kids and parents

ONE mum won’t go near her phone when the kids are around after reading a picture book on the picture book with her kids.

Health experts say excessive amounts of time spent on smart phones and tablets can be addictive and affect childhood development.

AMI-LEIGH O’Donnell used to wonder why her three-year-old daughter was obsessed with her mobile phone. Until she read a children’s picture book.

Ms O’Donnell read the manuscript for The Way We Have Fun a year ago, to give feedback to the authors.

The book’s message was so profound, Ms O’Donnell has changed the way she raises her children.

“On the one hand, the book made me feel like a fool because it made me take a look at myself, at how many times I am with my kids and have my phone within arm’s reach for work emails, to check bloody Facebook. These useless things that can definitely wait,” she said.

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“When I play with my kids now I never have the phone in the room. Me and my partner sleep with our phones in the kitchen, we don’t have them in the bedroom at all.”

It is a stark change from a year ago when Ms O’Donnell would never be without a device.

Her two daughters Pearl and Ever Pixie took such a strong liking to the book they sleep with it under their pillows.

The Way We Have Fun follows a young boy camping with his family. But rather than take in their surroundings, the family are consumed by their devices. That’s until a raccoon steals them and the family are forced to explore and have fun without technology.

The book was self-published by Moonee Ponds copywriter Luke Scicluna and Essendon illustrator Stacey Bennett.

Stacey Bennett and Luke Scicluna with their book The Way We Have Fun. Picture: Rob Leeson.

“It’s hard to imagine a world where devices are there from birth. I know my children need to know how to use technology but I don’t want it to consume them,” Ms O’Donnell said.

She said the book was a wake-up call for parents to show children that while there was value in devices, they weren’t necessary 24/7.

“The book has certainly given me a sense of self awareness I didn’t have before. I feel like I look at my kids now and really see them. They get more of my awareness and my whole consciousness instead of this distracted version of me. They know they are my priority,” she said.

“There is something to be said for eye contact and natural light and undistracted conversation and playing a game without Mummy having to check her phone.

“That phrase is banned from the house, Mummy does not have to check her phone.”

Although her daughters are only three and five, they insist on their mum reading to them in the hour before bed instead of watching television.

Ms O’Donnell says technology is a tool that isn’t needed every hour of the day.

Mr Scicluna and Ms Bennett decided to write the book when they were out for lunch a few years ago and witnessed the all-too-familiar scene of a couple sitting at a cafe, their heads and eyes down, more interested in their screens than with each other.

“They were so plugged into their devices they were missing their mouths when they ate and we got bummed out about it,” Mr Scicluna said.

“We felt it was a bit depressing how distracted they were and it dawned on us that there’s a whole generation who don’t know life before the internet.”

They want the picture book to educate kids and parents about the importance of having fun without technology.

Last year, the duo raised more than $7000 through a Pozible campaign to self-publish The Way We Have Fun.

The authors are under no illusion that technology can be a great learning tool but they want to send the message that it’s not needed all the time.

It’s just about inspiring change with families to put down their devices,” Ms Bennett said.

The book is sold at Dymocks, Readings and Booktopia.