Put down the smartphones to get connected on Family Day: parenting coach

An Alberta parenting coach has laid down a challenge for parents this Family Day: put down the smartphones.

Julie Freedman Smith from Parenting Power says families can get better connected by ditching their devices.  

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She says Family Day is an ideal time to go offline.

Getting connected, with each other

"We just thought the government gives us one day a year, Family Day, so why don't we encourage families to leave the cellphones down and just connect," said Freedman Smith.

"Eye to eye, and shoulder to shoulder, and plan to actually be with their families."

Freedman Smith said research suggested some children were feeling like they had to compete with their parents' smartphones for attention.

She added that some children were misbehaving to get their parents' attention away from their electronic devices.

"Kids are saying 'I wish my parents loved me as much as their smartphone,'" she said.

Making a plan

Freedman Smith's family committed to putting down their phones and made a plan for how to approach it.

Her family gave themselves five minutes at the start of the day to fulfil any online commitments before switching off.

"It's not like a diet where you can never touch sugar again," she said.

"It's, let's for one day spend more time with each other than with everybody else on our devices. Let's not post about it, let's just be here and be present."

Freedman Smith said encouraging others to go phone-free on Family Day was also to raise awareness by giving parents an idea of how many times they wanted to pick up their phones in a day.