This comes up in almost every parent conversation we have, and the honest answer is, taking the device away without a plan rarely works on its own.
Sometimes a boy is on his screen because it is the only place he feels in control of something in his life.
Sometimes it is because real life feels boring or hard in comparison, and the screen offers instant reward with no effort required.
“What works better is offering something that meets the same need, so the pull of the screen naturally gets weaker.”
Sometimes it is loneliness, the screen fills a gap where real connection with friends or family should be.
And sometimes it is simply habit, nobody ever showed him another way to fill that time, so the phone became the default.
Taking the device away without replacing what it was giving him usually just creates conflict. What works better is offering something that meets the same need, real challenge, real connection, real achievement, so the pull of the screen naturally gets weaker.
At camp, boys go days with no phones, and most are surprised by how much they did not miss it once real activity and real conversation filled the space instead.
Boys to Men Mentorship Camp shows boys, through experience, that life away from a screen can be more exciting, not less.