Create phone-free zones

Eight hours a day.
Every single day.

That’s how long Dia Mirza‘s 16-year-old stepdaughter Samaira spent on her phone.

The actress who fights climate change and plastic pollution couldn’t get her own kid off Instagram.

And she’s not alone – this is the reality most parents are living, but are too exhausted to talk about.

Recently, Dia opened up on The Healing Circle about their family’s struggle with Samaira’s screen addiction. She didn’t call it a phase or blame teenage hormones. She called it what it actually is.

Dia compared screen content to cocaine. “It’s like dopamine addiction,” she said, especially the content targeted at children.

What she shared next was even scarier:

→ Kids are being exploited online for views and engagement
→ Children put in provocative situations to create viral content
→ Some countries are banning social media for anyone under 16
→ The damage is real, documented, and spreading

Reversing this habit has been incredibly difficult for their family. The withdrawal, the fights, the emotional toll – all of it.

If you’re watching your teen disappear into their screen and feeling helpless, here’s where to start:

📍Create phone-free zones (dining table, bedrooms after 9 pm)

📍Have honest conversations about what they’re consuming, not just how long

📍Replace screen time with activities they genuinely enjoy

📍Lead by example- your phone goes in the box too

📍Use physical tools like SPRYEN Solutions‘s Detox Box; set the timer, lock devices away, remove the temptation entirely – https://lnkd.in/gD7sXudq

Sometimes the best way to break a digital habit is to make access physically impossible.

P.S. You’re just facing something no generation of parents has dealt with before.