> From the title, to the premise, to idea you have to go to Mongolia to get your kid to put down their phone and interact with you.

Exactly. I mean, go to a national or state park and you will likely be out of cell range.

Also - if that family had T-Mobile, likely they would have had free data coverage in Mongolia (perhaps not where they went).

https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/roaming?icid=WMM_TM_U_18IN...