Did you ever have your parents say to you, “Do as I say, not as I do?” Or worse yet, have you ever made that statement to your own children? The truth of the matter is – the statement is not very brilliant (OK, I’ll just say it – “It’s dumb”), and it has a very low chance of success,
This was borne out in a recent Pew Research Center study from 2018 examining the cell phone habits of teenagers. While we typically think of kids all being glued to their electronics (and lots of them absolutely are), the results of the research contained a surprising component to them.
While the study reported that two-thirds of parents are concerned about their teens screen time, those same parents are often guilty of nearly equal amounts of screen time – even checking messages or notifications the moment they wake up. Half of the teens interviewed stated they often find their parents distracted by their own cell phones when they are trying to have a conversation with them. Parents have a big role in their kids’ screen habits and setting a good example is a big part of it.
As one pediatrics professor from the University of Washington stated, “Kids don’t always do what we say but they do as we do.” As parents, this is a reminder that we need to take to heart, as we endeavor to model for our children solid relationship building behaviors. Who knows, we might even improve our own personal interactions as well.