Digital detox: Daisy Koech was so angry that she repossessed a smartphone her husband had gifted her 12-year-old daughter. Daisy’s anger was after discovering that her daughter was spending most of her night time online.
She was concerned that her daughter had installed apps that were taking away most of her time and that she was slowly avoiding family members and spending most of her time in bed, either sleeping or on her smartphone.
Daisy’s story is shared by Graham Kamau who laments that his 9-year-old son has been spending most of his time online on his smartphone.
The two cases could be examples of stories that informed the decision by HMD to unveil the Better Phone Project, which involves co-creation of a phone for children by [HMD and] parents to protect their mental wellbeing. The project that was announced in July 2024 is ongoing with HMD hoping that it will tackle the impact of smartphone use and social media on the wellbeing of children and Generation Z, and create the choice needed to find balance.
But as for Daisy and Graham, a solution of how to have their children reduce their time on smartphones is urgent. The two alongside three other colleagues during lunchbreak explored solutions for the issue. The four proposed solutions were;
Screen time limiters
Catherine says she realised she had challenges voluntarily staying away from her smartphone. She opted to use technology control the way she uses technology. This is by using the Digital Wellbeing tools on her smartphone to limit screen time for specific apps.
“At first it was hard because once I would use up the time I allocated a specific app, it would close until the following day,” she says.
Ditching smartphones for ‘dumb phones’
As for Aggrey, he opted to delete the attention-demanding apps from his smartphone opting to access them on his laptop. He says the cumbersome nature of accessing the apps on his laptop wipes away the desire to often be online. This, he says, made his smartphone what he terms as dumb.
He says a ‘dumb phone’, such as the ones made for this purpose by HMD, is an effective tool for helping reduce time online and helps him have better sleep, less stress, reduce negative thought patterns, and improves his concentration. Gadgets such as the new Nokia 8210 produced by HMD, takes things back to basics with no access to the internet, social media or other apps
“My decision to delete some apps have made me to be more present enabling me to nurture closer and intimate relations with my wife and children, and has enhanced my time management skills,” he says.
Aggrey says he opted to only retain the very essential apps on his smartphone, adding that he has been able to resist the temptation to download the apps over the past two years and eight months.
Switching between smartphone and feature phone
HMD reintroduced Nokia feature phones in 2020 bringing back nostalgia. However, to some it was a solution to the issue of prolonged periods online.
“I usually switch from my smartphone to a feature phone every Friday evening and switch back [to my smartphone] on Monday morning. With the feature phone I’m still able to stay connected via texts or calls, but I have no access to smart features,” Gladys says.
She recommends that Daisy and Graham consider buying their children feature phones.
Digital detox
This involves having the discipline to go offline and take a break from the internet, apps and social media. Beatrice roots for this, noting that digital detox has helped her get her thoughts out of cyberspace and makes her more present in the moment. “You know when I’m online for long periods, I often experience sleep problems, stress and anxiety. I have also noted similar patterns manifest among my hyper-digital younger relatives,” she says.
The five colleagues agree that this requires good discipline and is therefore not viable for use by Daisy’s and Graham’s children who they resort “are not disciplined enough to avoid being online.”
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