Helping Kids Regulate Emotions Without Screens

[Dr. Greg Wadley]: So if technology use gets out of control, what can we do? A person who’s using technology more than they want could ask, “Well, am I doing this because I’m dealing with an emotion? What is the emotion? What exactly am I feeling? And what is the situation that’s making me feel this way? Is this a situation that I can change or avoid? If it isn’t, is it possible that I could be interpreting, appeasing the situation differently to generate a different response to it? And it I can’t do that and I’ve got this emotion that I’m trying to deal with, can I learn a more effective way of dealing with it, perhaps a non-digital way of doing that?” So we think that if there is maladaptive digital emotion regulation, forced abstinence may not be the most effective response. Instead, the goal should be to find, learn, and use better emotional regulation strategies. For young people have mostly known digital regulation practices, it might be helpful to focus on non-digital practices. So young people should be learning strategies that work, identifying emotions, relaxation, breathing, mindfulness, reappraisal, and journaling. And the parents and significant adults can be helping young people to learn these strategies, helping them to regulate, co-regulating. This might be as simple as talking with a young person through a situation they’re facing and the emotions it’s generating for them, and talking to them about their technology use and whether there are alternatives. And, of course, parents should be modeling good emotion regulation strategies, as well.