My teen sons feared they’d be bullied or beaten up when I banned their phones – the effect it had was eye-opening
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Off the back of Emma and Matt Willis’ powerful smartphone documentary, Nadia Cohen, 51, from London, suggested her kids go cold turkey, too. Here’s how it went. . . The first time I introduce the idea of a week-long digital detox, the reaction from my 16-year-old twins leaves me stunned.
![[A mother and her two sons sit on a couch, each looking at their smartphones.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Digital_Detox41751jpg-JS948588049.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
“Fine,” mutters Felix. “Whatever,” agrees Harry. I’d expected tense negotiations and bribery, yet here they are, grunting their agreement. Then I realise it’s because, as usual, their noses are pressed to their screens and they haven’t listened to a word I’ve said.
![[Family selfie on a beach at sunset.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/06c60d78-b262-4061-b57c-04414c797b89_2e64d5.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
So I repeat the plan, louder this time, and they gape at me in confused silence, before wailing: “Why?”. It’s because, like the vast majority of kids their age, they spend up to two hours per day (and up to as much as three or four hours at the weekend) scrolling TikTok and Snapchat, and playing Fifa on the Xbox.
Luckily, they have some non-screen hobbies, too, including football and skateboarding – but, still, I worry. With a recent report from the Education Committee finding that almost 25% of children and young people use their smartphones in a way that is consistent with a behavioural addiction, and Matt and Emma Willis’ documentary for Channel 4 – Swiped: The School That Banned Smartphones – making headlines, the issue is gaining traction around the world.
