{"id":52133,"date":"2025-03-13T14:26:03","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T11:26:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/?p=52133"},"modified":"2025-03-13T14:26:03","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T11:26:03","slug":"get-10-yo-son-off-the-screen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/en\/get-10-yo-son-off-the-screen","title":{"rendered":"How to Get Your 10-Year-Old Son Off the Screen Without Tears and Tantrums"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Is your son glued to his phone and not noticing anything around him? Even when you call him for dinner, does it feel like your words just vanish into the air? Stay calm and read on! Getting your child off their screen is totally possible\u2014and you can do it without drama. The key is knowing the right approach.<\/p>\n<h2>\u26a1 Why Is It Important?<\/h2>\n<p>Studies <a  rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC10903530\/#:~:text=Results%3A%20The%20analysis%20showed%20that,daytime%20sleepiness%20(20%25%20vs.\"\" rel=\"nofollow\">show<\/a> that 10-year-old children who spend more than 3 hours a day on screens (outside of schoolwork) are more likely to experience:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: left; width: 100%;\">\n<li>Issues with Sleep<\/li>\n<li>Difficulty concentrating<\/li>\n<li>Lower levels of physical activity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>\ud83e\udde0 Why Is It So Hard to Break Away From the Screen?<\/h2>\n<p>When we watch something exciting or scroll through an endless social media feed, our brain goes through a powerful biochemical process. Neurotransmitters like dopamine (the hormone that controls pleasure and motivation) and serotonin (which makes us feel satisfied) are released.<\/p>\n<p>Normally, these chemicals are released gradually, like when we finish a challenging task or enjoy a nice meal. But with extended screen time, the brain starts working in an unfamiliar way as dopamine and serotonin are released in larger amounts and stay for longer periods. This makes it much harder to stop watching, as the brain gets &#8220;addicted&#8221; to the constant reward.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ve probably experienced it yourself. Maybe you promise to watch just one episode of a show but end up glued to the screen for hours. For kids, managing this process is even harder. They\u2019re still learning self-control, so getting them off the screen without any prep can be a real challenge.<\/p>\n<h2>\ud83d\udca1 What Can You Do?<\/h2>\n<h3>Try Negotiating<\/h3>\n<p>A strict ban is likely to lead to a tantrum. Instead, try talking about the rules together. For example, set a &#8220;digital curfew&#8221;\u2014no screens after 8:00 PM.<\/p>\n<h3>Screen Time Break = Reward<\/h3>\n<p>Turn limiting screen time into a game. For instance, after each day of minimal screen use, your child earns points they can trade for something they want.<\/p>\n<h3>Offer Distractions<\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s tough to monitor your child\u2019s screen time when you\u2019re busy with work. One solution is to leave instructions with requests or ideas. For example: <em>\u201cDear son, can you come up with and draw five activities you love doing in your free time?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Remember: It\u2019s a process, not a battle.<\/strong> With patience, consistency, and a little creativity, you can help your daughter build a healthier relationship with screens\u2014without the drama.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 10px; font-weight: 100; font-family: Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;\">Cover image: Tania Kolinko\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n\t\t<div class=\"wpulike wpulike-default \" ><div class=\"wp_ulike_general_class wp_ulike_is_not_liked\"><button type=\"button\"\n\t\t\t\t\taria-label=\"Like Button\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-ulike-id=\"52133\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-ulike-nonce=\"88ad350e6a\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-ulike-type=\"likeThis\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-ulike-template=\"wpulike-default\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-ulike-display-likers=\"0\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-ulike-disable-pophover=\"0\"\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"wp_ulike_btn wp_ulike_put_image wp_likethis_52133\"><\/button><\/div><\/div>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is your son glued to his phone and not noticing anything around him? Even when&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":52051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"layf_related_links":[""],"layf_exclude_from_feed":["1"],"classic-editor-remember":["classic-editor"],"_edit_lock":["1741865066:1"],"_edit_last":["1"],"_thumbnail_id":["52051"],"mpulseenable_meta_value":["no"],"yzcategory_meta_value":["\u0414\u043e\u043c"],"yzrating_meta_value":["\u041d\u0435\u0442 (\u043d\u0435 \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0432\u0437\u0440\u043e\u0441\u043b\u044b\u0445)"],"yzrssenabled_meta_value":["no"],"_s2mail":["yes"],"\u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440":["\u0412\u0430\u0441\u0438\u043b\u0438\u0439 \u0421\u043c\u0438\u0440\u043d\u043e\u0432"],"_\u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440":["field_5e33cab3984d1"],"\u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e":[""],"_\u0444\u043e\u0442\u043e":["field_5e33cbc1984d2"],"custom_title":[""],"_custom_title":["field_67cfbde67c007"],"custom_image":[""],"_custom_image":["field_67d012de223ac"],"custom_alt":[""],"_custom_alt":["field_67d012f6223ad"],"read_more":[""],"_read_more":["field_67d0130e223ae"],"hide-in-popular":[""],"_hide-in-popular":["field_5d0c8a5b4fde2"],"_aioseo_title":["How to Get Your 10-Year-Old Son Off the Screen Without Tears and Tantrums"],"_aioseo_description":["Is your son glued to his phone and not noticing anything around him? Getting your child off their screen is totally possible\u2014and you can do it without drama. The key is knowing the right approach."],"_aioseo_keywords":[""],"_aioseo_og_title":[null],"_aioseo_og_description":[null],"_aioseo_og_article_section":[""],"_aioseo_og_article_tags":[""],"_aioseo_twitter_title":[null],"_aioseo_twitter_description":[null],"saswp_custom_schema_field":[""],"_wp_old_date":["2025-03-12"]},"categories":[668],"tags":[673],"language":[3],"acf":{"custom_title":"","custom_image":"","custom_alt":"","read_more":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/cdn-blog.findmykids.org\/2025\/03\/shutterstock_1025142874-1-1.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"The Findmykids Editorial Team","author_link":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/ru\/author\/find-my-kids"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn-blog.findmykids.org\/2025\/03\/shutterstock_1025142874-1-1.jpg","reading_time":"2","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52133"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52133"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52174,"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52133\/revisions\/52174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52133"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findmykids.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=52133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}