Robotics vs. Screen Time: How to Reduce Your Kids’ Smartphone Addiction

Are you worried about your kids spending too much time on their smartphones? Do you want to reduce their screen time and make them more interested in learning new skills? If yes, then you are at the right place. In this blog post, I will share with you how robotics can help you achieve that goal.

Screen time is the amount of time that someone spends using a device such as a smartphone, tablet, computer, or TV. While some screen time can be beneficial for education, entertainment, and communication, too much of it can have negative effects on your kids’ health, behavior, and development.

According to a report by Common Sense Media, the average screen time for kids aged 8 to 12 in the US is about six hours per day, and for teens, it’s about nine hours per day. That’s a lot of time that could be spent on other activities such as reading, playing, exercising, or socializing.

One of the main reasons why kids are addicted to their smartphones is because they offer instant gratification and stimulation. They can watch endless videos, play addictive games, and scroll through social media feeds without getting bored. However, this also means that they are less likely to engage in creative, challenging, and meaningful tasks that require more effort and attention.

That’s where robotics comes in. Robotics is the science and technology of designing, building, and programming machines that can perform tasks and interact with the environment. Robotics can be a fun and engaging way to introduce your kids to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) concepts and skills, such as coding, logic-building, problem-solving, and creativity.

How I Introduced Robotics to an 8-Year-Old Boy

Let me tell you a story of how I used robotics to reduce the screen time of an 8-year-old boy. I am a robotics instructor and I have some robotics kits and software that I use to teach kids how to make and program their own robots. I also know how to develop games and apps using block-based coding platforms.

During the Diwali vacation (a festival in India), I went to my hometown and met a boy who lived in my neighborhood. He used to come to my house when his parents were away from home. He always carried a smartphone with him and he was constantly watching Reels (short videos) or playing games on it. He was so absorbed in his screen that he didn’t pay attention to anything else. Even when we called him, he didn’t respond.

When I talked to my parents about this, they told me that if his parents didn’t give him the smartphone, he would start to shout at them or cry or refuse to stay at home. This was a dangerous addiction, and I wanted to help him overcome it.

So I called him and asked him if he would like to create his own game and showcase it to his friends rather than playing other people’s time-wasting games. Or if he wanted to control a robot with his commands (while showing him the robot). He got excited and asked me how to do it. I told him he needed to learn coding. Then he started asking me what it was and how he could do it.

I explained to him the basics of coding and what it was like to give instructions to a computer or a robot. To get started, I gave him my robot and taught him how to control it using a smartphone app. He could drag and drop blocks of code to make the robot move forward, backward, left, and right. He was thrilled to see the robot following his commands. I also taught him some blocks that could make the robot perform various tasks, such as making sounds, changing colors, or avoiding obstacles.

Now everything completely changed. He was no longer wasting his time scrolling through videos. Instead, he was doing drag-and-drop coding, connecting the blocks in a sequence to make the robot perform different actions in the real world.

How Robotics Reduced His Screen Time

Now you may ask me, he was still using the smartphone to do robotics, how did his screen time reduce? Yes, you are right, he was still using the smartphone, but not in the same way as before. First, he was thinking about what to do with the robot and once he had a plan, he started coding by selecting the required blocks. Then, he tested his code, and if it worked, he enjoyed it, otherwise, he tried again. Wasn’t that fun?

So, by just watching videos, he was not learning anything. Alright, let’s consider he was watching educational videos. Still, we can’t consider that as active learning, because it was passive learning which was not going to be beneficial. In passive learning, we are just consuming the knowledge and not applying it.

But when he started working on the robot, there were so many things that he was learning and developing. First, it was his thinking power, as he had to come up with ideas and solutions. Second, it was his coding skills, as he had to use logic, syntax, and debugging. Third, it was his engineering skills, as he had to understand how the robot worked and how to improve it.

If you are struggling with your kids to get them out of the smartphone world, I highly recommend you try robotics. Get a robot that can be programmed, and sit with them to help them understand how they can play with it. And see the magic that happens.

Do you know why I am encouraging robotics? Because it’s amazing to see how a piece of code can make a robot do actions in the real world. That’s going to make your kids excited and curious. Which is going to motivate them to do more things with the robot. And kids get easily excited when they see machines doing actions on their own instructions.

If you want a Robotics Mentor for your kids who can guide them in the robotics journey, then book a free demo class here.