When I was raising my kids the addiction was "TV". I think there are parallels but you need to decide.
One of the things kids seem to be is really really curious. I know for some this is obvious but in my kids and other kids in their cohort lots of questions lots of "why?" It is possible this is related to the idea of novelty being the thing that triggers the pleasure center and "addicts" you or it could be something else entirely. My wife and I had a goal to make sure that TV wasn't habitual.
For us, the thing was the kids needed something to do when we weren't doing something as a family or other activities. A lot of our peers would let them watch TV, we bought a lot of books (and taught them at an early age how to use the library which was, quite fortunately, within biking distance of our house).
I didn't think too much about the difference but it really stood out at a birthday party my daughter attended. The "parent in charge" of the birthday needed to set things up and switched on the TV. Nearly all of the kids gravitate to the TV and sat quietly watching it. My daughter wandered over to the bookshelf and saw a book, pulled off the shelf and started reading it. The difference was distinct enough for the parent to make a point to tell me this series of events when I picked up my kid. They were surprised that a kid would rather "read" than "watch TV".
I don't know if the right word was "rather" though, I just know that my kids had learned that an easy way to entertain yourself when there was nothing else to do was to read. I felt strongly that reading was "habit" rather than "preference."
I can't verify that of course, and later when World of Warcraft came out we all spent a lot of time playing it, but by that time not having access to external content wasn't a huge problem for the kids.
One of the things kids seem to be is really really curious. I know for some this is obvious but in my kids and other kids in their cohort lots of questions lots of "why?" It is possible this is related to the idea of novelty being the thing that triggers the pleasure center and "addicts" you or it could be something else entirely. My wife and I had a goal to make sure that TV wasn't habitual.
For us, the thing was the kids needed something to do when we weren't doing something as a family or other activities. A lot of our peers would let them watch TV, we bought a lot of books (and taught them at an early age how to use the library which was, quite fortunately, within biking distance of our house).
I didn't think too much about the difference but it really stood out at a birthday party my daughter attended. The "parent in charge" of the birthday needed to set things up and switched on the TV. Nearly all of the kids gravitate to the TV and sat quietly watching it. My daughter wandered over to the bookshelf and saw a book, pulled off the shelf and started reading it. The difference was distinct enough for the parent to make a point to tell me this series of events when I picked up my kid. They were surprised that a kid would rather "read" than "watch TV".
I don't know if the right word was "rather" though, I just know that my kids had learned that an easy way to entertain yourself when there was nothing else to do was to read. I felt strongly that reading was "habit" rather than "preference."
I can't verify that of course, and later when World of Warcraft came out we all spent a lot of time playing it, but by that time not having access to external content wasn't a huge problem for the kids.