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March 17, 2025

Larissa Mills, B.A. M. Ed.

Cognitive Behavioural Sports Coach

Founder of The Mental Game Academy

Signs of Social Media and Phone Addiction

Constant phone use.
Staying up late.
Lazy, anxious, irritable, depressed
In their rooms on devices 24/7
Won’t spend time with family or friends.
Going over data each month.

Introduction: With 25 years of experience in Education and a mother of 3, I can safely say that phones should never have been invented with social media. Phones, yes! We, as adults, love them but are just as addicted as children. Once a child has one, they are sucked down the proverbial rabbit hole, never to talk to you again.

By 16 years old, kids have been on phones for 25,000 hours. This is causing gaps in their psychological, emotional, physical, and academic development. As a cognitive behavioral sports specialist, I hear daily from parents, athletes, and coaches that they don’t know what to do. I asked them to elaborate on this statement,

“It is like coaching robots that don’t interact or care to learn anymore.” We can manage coaching with hormones, but not with phones,” some said. Athletes check their phones even though they are banned in schools, 20 times per class. This causes disjointed hockey development, not learning. So, why do we allow phones around sports?

Parents, Coaches, Physicians and Educators want to ban phones for the sake of students’ mental health and the future of Education. So why not set boundaries around sports?

How to Prevent Addiction

DELAY, delay, delay. More parents want to delay but don’t. Unless parents parent, children won’t put screens down. Kids look at their phones an average of 80 times a day. This is training their brains to do it and want that dopamine.
Talk and Set boundaries and rules for your home. Don’t cave, ever; stick to the rules and create them as a family. Set consequences together too.
Routines are as Healthy as Love for kids. Maintain routines as best you can. First, set up homework, chores, playing outside, sports, etc. Create clear expectations so kids do things automatically. No more nagging will be needed. xd
Sports, Arts, Music, sign them up! Keep children engaged athletically and find them a hobby. Activities are multifactorial in their development; this helps to build socialization skills, resilience, and confidence. They are invaluable.
Face time, not FaceTime, for family. Family dinners and family events with grandparents are a good start. However, playing cards, reading to them, hugging them, and affection is more important now than ever in these times of isolation. Create traditions and go on holiday.
Socialization. If children don’t bond and form secure attachments to their parents, they can’t develop the subsequent psychological steps in a concrete way. If children don’t pass through this stage, they will have gaps in their overall development.
Connection: Keep kids on the main floor with you. For awareness and for protection.
Controls App: Add @FYIplayitsafe, lets parents see what their kids are doing and notifies you when something is wrong. Bullying, if they are sad, if someone asks them their name? Also, Add Blue Guardian App, add the

The Canadian Pediatric Screen Task Force states, “Children should use screens for 1 hour a day.” Some children aren’t speaking properly by JK, while older children aren’t talking to develop the linguistic part of their brains; they are texting. This is not a substitute, says Dr. John Hutton of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

Keep talking to your athletes and organize a time to be together with family. Making family time sacred raises HOCKEY IQ.

VISIT https://mentalgameacademy.com for TIPS, strategies, podcasts, courses, and videos to set up rules, expectations, and guidelines for children of all ages to balance life with technology.

Take our Phone Addiction QUIZ:

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