Comment by trinix912

While it might sound backwards, it's probably more effective than banning and hard rules in the long run.

Yes, you can isolate them from social media at home, but you have to acknowledge that it also means they will be missing out, won't be invited to things planned on there, will live under constant tension of "what are others talking on there?", all of which might actually stunt their (social) development more than just being on social media with no restrictions. You can take alternative approaches along the lines of "let them use computers first, then phones", but then you're no better than the parents forcing kids into a certain sport because of a personal preference.

I'm not saying don't ever tell them to go offline, just saying dialing down the restrictions a bit and actively providing alternatives-spending time with them-should go a long way. Spend time engaged with them, just generally show them the way-show them sports, activities, ... they can do with or without friends, offline. Lead by example is the term here.

To end this, I also know quite a few cases where the restrictions have backfired to the point the kid feels like they need to use up all precious daily screentime allowance, even tho they might have better things to do, just because it's so limited.