Uh, so a four-, five-, or six-year-old, possibly, but again, we have to define addiction. What it might look like is withdrawal — “I can’t live without it,” and if they don’t have it, they throw a temper tantrum.
So maybe a better approach in this situation would be to use a healthy distraction. With a four-, five-, or six-year-old, they don’t have object permanence to the same degree a teenager will because they don’t have enough experience with it.
I would find other activities or events for the child where the device isn’t available — and make it unavailable for at least a week or two. The reason why is because we know these types of devices are doing something to our children’s brains that we can’t fully understand. We know that’s one reason anxiety has gone up. The more people consume, the more anxious they are — that’s part of the reality.
What we’re ultimately trying to do is create other situations where the child experiences something new. A four-, five-, or six-year-old is transitioning into preschool, kindergarten, or first grade. At those ages, we want them to come home and do new things — maybe play in the backyard, go for a walk, or play with peers. Invite friends over.
The goal is to create healthy distractions away from games, computers, or devices. My invitation is to set a goal and remove media — whatever they’re consuming — from the equation for a period of time and observe what happens with your child.
As a parent, you can do that. In my opinion, we want to reduce and consume our devices intentionally, not habitually. Intentional consumption — using devices for specific periods of time, not extended ones — will lead to better overall mental health and well-being.
That’s intentional parenting, and it’s something we all need to work at. I say “all” because I have eight children, and we’ve had to be very intentional about this process. I can tell you we’re still learning and growing in it.
