Expert reveals the digital double standard keeping your child hooked

“They care about one thing and one thing only and that is addiction.”

Asking your teenager to hand over their phone is sort of like stepping into the lion’s den.

When Doctor Justin Coulson did it, he expected a fight from his 15-year-old daughter.

After a visible decline in her mental health, he knew it was time to intervene.

“We keep talking with her about it and she can see it, she can acknowledge it and yet she’s not doing anything about it,” he explains to Kidspot. 

So he stepped in and told her: “we're going to do an experiment.”  

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RELATED: 'We have 27 screens between six of us' confesses 'iPad kids' mum 

The digital double standard keeping your child hooked

For two weeks, they took away her phone. Not as punishment, but as a reset. A chance to show her life through an unfiltered lens.

And it worked!

Justin believes it’s time for all parents to take a closer look at the devices their children are engaging with. The effects run deeper than many realise.

“They (children) have less grey matter… they are less likely to be able to concentrate, unless they've got a screen in front of them. They have lower levels of emotion regulation, lower levels of behavioural regulation. They're often going to have less sleep,” Justin warns.

“All in all, the outcomes are just poorer for them.”

But before pointing the finger at parents, he says there’s a bigger entity to blame.

“The CEOs who drive these massive platforms and the other key decision makers are duplicitous and mendacious and do not care at all about the well-being of your children,” he claims. 

“They care about one thing and one thing only and that is addiction.”

According to Justin, these platforms are designed to make it nearly impossible for developing minds to disengage. And the people behind them know it.

“These people don't let their children use these products and platforms. They keep their own children away from them because they know what they are and what they do,” Justin claims. 

“They know exactly what they’re doing. And they are harmful to our kids."

Screen time is just one of the many parenting challenges that Parental Guidance will explore this season. Image: Getty

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TV is the broccoli of screen time

However, not all screens are created equal. Sometimes parents just need a break, and they deserve that! 

“If your kids need downtime or if you need some downtime, TV is way better. Way better than YouTube, way better than social media, way better than gaming,” he advises. 

TV offers storylines, the ability to gain empathy and there’s also a defined end point. 

But Justin notes most importantly: “It doesn't turn their time on screen into a casino-like experience where they're constantly being addicted and bribed and there's bells and whistles and bangs and pops and all the things that pull them in.”

When Justin eventually handed his daughter’s phone back, she understood. Not just his concerns, but her own patterns, too.

“She said, ‘I need to delete TikTok and never download it again.’” 

Even more surprising? Her admission: ‘‘It actually feels good to not have it.’” 

She even set stricter boundaries than Justin had imagined.

“She gave me two or three other rules that were way more hardcore than anything I would have actually said if I was in charge. And it wasn’t ‘cause she was trying to impress me. It was because I was supporting those needs,” he said. 

Screen time is just one of the major parenting topics tackled in this season of Parental Guidance.

As a co-host and parenting expert on the Channel Nine series and he tells Kidspot that this is their most powerful season yet.

“You’ll see what some of these tech companies are doing to entrap our children. The lies, the manipulation, and the deceitfulness of these companies is extraordinary,” he says.

But despite the heavy content, the message is one of optimism.

“Parents will be hopeful that they can actually navigate the difficulties that life and parenting present.”

You can watch Parental Guidance on Channel Nine at 7pm, June 30.

Originally published as Expert reveals the digital double standard keeping your child hooked