Kids as young as 13 are being treated for mobile phone addiction.

Parents who have used the phone by taking it away for “bad behavior” are finding their children reacting the same way an addict would if they could no longer get access to drugs.

Here’s what we are learning from the reSTART Life Center near Seattle, the only known treatment center for mobile phone addiction in the U.S.

Explore the world beyond the screen.

Set a good example.  Parents increasingly make their phones a centerpiece of their lives and children pick this up early.

Turn off tech. 

Tech is a tool not a lifestyle. 

Remember who is supporting this habit by paying for the cellphone and its monthly bills and then be a parent. 

For adults, the same rules apply.

The phone is like a dopamine pump that is why we cannot put it down.  Why we hold it in our hands too often and check it far too much – an average of 74 times a day.

Best cure:  for every minute of digital use, balance it with an equal minute of in-person or audio contact with another person.

Balance saves the day.

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