Re:Dad takes son to Mongolia to get him off his phone
by DougN7 on Thursday January 02, 2020 @01:53PM
(#21938418)
Agree completely. I personally know an otherwise normal healthy teenage girl that cries and can’t sleep at night from anxiety if she doesn’t have her phone. I think there are many more people like this than we realize.
Re:Dad takes son to Mongolia to get him off his phone
by xwowsersx on Thursday January 02, 2020 @01:55PM
(#21938446)
Yeah. I myself dismissed concerns that people have expressed because I tend to be suspicious of alarmism. But there is a real problem, a real addiction. Sure, it might not be the same as a chemical addiction to alcohol or something, but that doesn't make it any less real. I've seen firsthand how relationships have been destroyed, in large part, due to smartphone addiction.
I agree that this is a bit "extra", but you obviously haven't experienced what it's like for someone to have a crippling addiction to their smartphone.
This dad feeling like he had to do something extreme is probably not ill-founded. Sometimes people have to pull out all the stops to accomplish something, especially when dealing with an addict (that's what interventions are). Staying at home could have worked, but much harder when you have to trust and rely on the son using his phone responsibly. The dad just avoided all the pitfalls by doing something extreme. Agreed that it's extra, but I think you're dismissing this hastily.