FOMO

Look familiar? Are you concerned about the amount of time your family is spending glued to a screen this summer holidays?

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Late last year the Australian Psychological Society (APS) released survey details outlining social media and its impact on Australian’s wellbeing. The survey found 56% of Australians are “heavy” social media users.

While there are many positives, with teenagers feeling more socially connected at the click of button, they also acknowledged some negative factors. Most notably the high number of Australian teenagers who ruminate and interpret their friends as having more fun without them.

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3 Tips to limit FOMO these holidays:

1.   Turn the Internet access off at night. Its one thing for a parent to monitor any negative consequences of FOMO during the day, but at night sleep deprived adolescents can get stuck in negative thought cycles.

2.   Encourage face-to-face activities. Gone are the days of parents trying to “keep their teenagers at home so they are safe”. Encourage your child to engage in structured activities with friends, even if this involves screen time.

3.   Make family activities screen free time. Start with something small like meal times, and then tackle longer periods.

 

You can read the complete APS survey media release: 

http://www.psychology.org.au/news/media_releases/8Nov2015-fomo