Has anyone ever called you to show you something and you said «coming!»… and when you went, it was gone?
Thanks for sharing. You're not the only one.
For the adult: read together. There are no right or wrong answers. Share your own examples: «That happens to me with my phone too». Children learn to use screens by watching how we grown-ups use them. This route works best if the whole family plays, grown-ups included.
Screens are fun: phones, tablets, TV, video games. But they have a trick: they're like a magnet 🧲. They pull you, and it's hard to let go.
It's not that you're doing something wrong. They're made so you want to keep going. That's why you'll learn to be the boss: to let go of the magnet whenever you want.
Your mirror
The adult reads each sentence out loud.
Lía is watching videos on the tablet. Her grandma Tita calls her from the window:
—Lía, come and see! The sky is orange and pink!
—Coming!
—Hurry, it's going!
—Coming, grandma!
When Lía finally gets to the window, the sun has already gone down. The sky is gray.
—It was the prettiest sunset of the year —says Tita.
The magnet won. And the sunset can't happen again.
Draw your magnet ✏️
Draw your magnet: which screen pulls you most? Next to it, draw something you missed because you stayed with it.
Today you're a detective 🔍. Every time you say «coming!» or «five more minutes», tell yourself in your head: «Oops, the magnet pulled me».
When does the magnet pull you most?
The magnet has tricks. Let's find them!
Finish and go to lesson 2 →Guess: how many times did you unlock your phone yesterday?
Don't check yet. You'll compare at the end.
Thanks for sharing. You're not the only one.
This route isn't about taking your phone away. Your friends, your music and half the world are on it.
It's about your attention: who you give it to, and who takes it without you deciding. Apps are built to bring you back. If it's hard to put down, it's not that you're weak: it's an unfair fight. So you'll learn to notice when it happens, and to make choosing easier.
Before the mirror: answer thinking about what you did this month, not who you'd like to be.
Your mirror
Friday night. Teo, Dani and three other friends go out for pizza. Five minutes later, they're all on their phones.
—Hey —says Dani—, my grandma's in the hospital.
—Oh —says someone, without looking up.
—What? —asks Teo. He was watching a video.
—Nothing, forget it.
Dani doesn't bring it up again. Teo finds out two weeks later, when Dani's grandma is already out of the hospital. Dani had told them. Nobody was there to hear it.
Your attention map
1 · Compare. Find yesterday's usage («Digital Wellbeing» on Android, «Screen Time» on iPhone). How many times did you unlock it, compared with your guess? What were your top three apps?
2 · Three people: someone at home, a friend, and someone from school.
3 · Finish the sentence.
Every time you unlock your phone, ask yourself: «What for?». Just notice.
Which number surprised you most?
Your phone disguises itself as «just a second», «let's see what they're saying in the group» and «one more video».
Finish and go to lesson 2 →Before you go on, guess: how many times did you unlock your phone yesterday?
Don't check yet. We'll compare at the end.
Thanks for sharing. You're not the only one.
This route isn't against your phone
Your phone brings you closer to people who are far away, helps you work, keeps the photos of your kids. It isn't the enemy.
This route is about something else: your attention. It's the most valuable thing you can give someone. Looking at them, listening to them and being there, without being somewhere else, is the most concrete way to love a person.
The problem isn't the phone. It's that we often give it the best of our attention without having decided to.
It's not a lack of willpower
Apps are built to bring you back. So if it's hard to put down, it's not that you're weak: it's an unfair fight. On this route you won't grit your teeth. You'll learn to notice when it happens, and to change what's around you so choosing gets easier.
Where it shows up
There are six moments when your phone takes your attention:
- The reflex: you pull it out without deciding.
- With people: you're with someone, but your head is on the screen.
- Night and morning: it's the last thing you see before sleep and the first when you wake.
- Silence and waiting: you pull it out as soon as there's an empty moment.
- The shop window: you live the moment thinking about how it will look posted.
- What you put off: the things that matter to you that get left for later.
Before the mirror
Answer thinking about what you did this past month, not about who you'd like to be. Nobody else sees your answers.
Your mirror
Saturday afternoon. Sam takes Lía to the park.
—Dad, look!
—Uh-huh, great —says Sam. He's answering a work email. It's quick, he thinks.
—Dad, look, look!
—Yes, yes, I'm watching.
—Dad!
Sam looks up just as Lía gets off the swing. The fourth time, she stops calling him.
That night, at dinner, Lía tells her mom:
—Today I went higher on the swing than ever. Higher than ever.
—Really? —says Sam—. When?
—At the park. I called you.
Sam spent the whole afternoon at the park with his daughter. But he wasn't there. And the highest swing doesn't happen twice.
Your attention map
Keep your phone handy: this time you'll need it.
Step 1 · Compare. Find yesterday's usage on your phone. On Android it's in «Digital Wellbeing»; on iPhone, in «Screen Time». How many times did you unlock it, compared with your guess? How many hours did you use it?
Step 2 · Three people. Think of three important people: someone in your family, a friend, someone you live with.
Step 3 · Look at it all together. How much time did you give the screen yesterday, and how much to those three people? It's not to blame yourself. It's to see.
Step 4 · Finish the sentence.
You'll use this in lesson 9, when you build your plan.
Every time you unlock your phone, ask yourself: «What for?».
You don't have to change anything. Just notice how many times there's no answer.
Which number surprised you most? What would you have liked to do with that time?
We almost never say «I'm going to ignore my daughter». We say «just a second», «let's see if there's anything» or «it's quick, it's work».
In the next lesson you'll meet the phone's eight disguises. And you'll find out which ones you use.
Finish and go to lesson 2 →Lesson 1 of 10.
Great start.
To take with youToday you're a detective 🔍. Every time you say «coming!» or «five more minutes», tell yourself in your head: «Oops, the magnet pulled me».
To take with youEvery time you unlock your phone, ask yourself: «What for?». Just notice.
To take with youEvery time you unlock your phone, ask yourself: «What for?».
What you write and your progress are saved only on this device. When you finish the lesson we add 1 to the total, without knowing who you are.