We got him an iPhone for his birthday thinking it would be mostly for talking to us and texting a couple friends. Now he's on TikTok probably 3-4 hours a day. I set screen time limits but he just keeps asking me to approve more time and I find myself saying yes because I'm tired of fighting about it. Anyone else been in this spot? What actually worked to reign it back in?
Yeah the 'mostly for talking to us' plan never survives first contact with reality. You might need to set some hard boundaries now before it gets worse. Screen time limits in settings help if he hasn't figured out how to bypass them yet.
10 is rough for phone addiction because they actually understand it but can't self-regulate yet. We had to take my oldest's phone away during family time and school. It sucked but it works.
The birthday gift regret is real. We did the same thing and learned real quick that kids need structure around phones or they'll use them constantly. Parental controls are your friend here.
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This is why we waited longer with our kids. An iPhone at 10 is basically handing them all the dopamine hits the internet can provide. Might be time to have a real conversation about usage expectations.