A mother who admitted to using her phone for 10 hours every day has revealed the heartbreaking reason she gave up her screen time addiction.
For years, Sarah Long, 28, from the Midlands spent hours on her phone, watching TV shows on the device as well as listening to music and scrolling social media.
And her screen time skyrocketed even more in 2021 when she set up TikTok account MumSaidWhat?! while pregnant with her first child.
In the early days of motherhood Sarah would spend hours scrolling between night feeds and nappy changes.
It was only when her eldest daughter, Willow, three, confronted her about her excessive phone use that Sarah, who had amassed 45,000 followers in three years, accepted it had become a problem for her family.
‘It never really bothered me until my daughter Willow said to me “Mummy just get off your phone” when she asked me to play with her,’ Sarah told the Daily Mail.
The former teaching assistant, who lives with her partner Rob, 27, and her two children – Willow and Mia, one, – added: ‘She’d never said anything like that to me before – and it literally broke my heart.
Sarah Long was glued to her phone, often spending hours a day scrolling, listening to music and watching TV shows on the device
‘In that moment [Willow] realised that I was giving my phone more attention than her and I thought to myself, “How am I putting a little device before my child?”‘
Sarah, who revealed that picking up her phone had become ‘like a reflex’ that ‘just happened’, heard Willow’s plea as a timely wake-up call.
She said: ‘It was a huge reality check and made me question what I was actually doing at that time that my daughter had to practically beg me to put my phone down.’
Admitting that she felt like ‘a bad mother’ when Willow asked her to get off her phone, Sarah said that she started to worry about what her toddler truly thought about their relationship.
‘It made me worry about whether she knows how much I love her and love spending time with her,’ she explained. ‘It was a big turning point in how much time I’m on my phone.’
Since Willow confronted her mother, Sarah and Rob have implemented changes regarding phone use at home – and they’ve even seen an improvement in the three-year-old’s behaviour as a result.
She said: ‘We’ve been looking at ways on how to be more present at home, especially as the girls are growing up so fast, but it is hard when your job demands you to be online.’
Sarah, who said she finds it hard not to pick up her phone if it’s in the same room, has started leaving it in the kitchen.
Sarah (pictured with Willow), who is a fulltime content creator, said she had become immune to her phone use and that picking up her device was more like a reflex than a decision
Since Willow called her mother out regarding her phone use, Sarah has taken positive steps to reduce how much time she spends online
Meanwhile, the family has recently banned devices from the dinner table, reclaiming mealtimes as ‘family time without any distractions’.
‘It’s made the girls eat their food better and it’s given us more quality family time,’ Sarah said.
‘Willow’s behaviour definitely has improved and, when I do need to step away and do something on my phone, she’s understanding because I’ve spent so much one-on-one time with her.’
In addition, Sarah said she feels less irritated and generally happier for having curtailed her phone use.
She and Rob have also started to enjoy evenings together where they stay off their phones completely, with Sarah acknowledging that ‘it makes everyone feel more seen and loved.’
New research from Openreach revealed that almost half of Brits (48 per cent) have been asked by their loved ones to put their phone down to spend more time together as a family.
And, in a development that will come as a surprise to some, it’s not only children who are perennially online.
Rather, one in 10 (9 per cent) parents admitted that they have been told off by their kids for spending too much time on their smartphones.
Data from Openreach also showed more than a third (36 per cent) of adults admitted slow internet connections sometimes led to frustrations at home and a quarter (25 per cent) said having faster and more reliable broadband would likely reduce the number of arguments at home.
While Sarah has now found effective ways to reduce how much time she spends online, she wants to be sure that her children don’t fall into bad habits when it comes to phone use.
She said: ‘It’s getting the right balance and it is really tricky as a parent in this day and age.
‘It’s controversial but I do think children should have some screentime. They’re growing up in a world where their life will revolve around screens. They need to know how to use the internet and, more importantly, how to use it safely.
‘I’m working on how much time I spend on my phone in front of the girls and upgrading to full fibre (internet) has been a gamechanger in doing this.’
