My teenage daughter was glued to her phone, so I imposed a one-hour screen time rule. She was furious and warned, “You’ll regret this.” I laughed it off—until the school called.
Her teacher told me Iris had been skipping lunch, crying in the bathroom, and was found hiding behind the gym. Turns out, she was being cyberbullied. When I cut her screen time, she couldn’t defend herself or even see what was happening. Things only got worse.
She finally said, “I didn’t tell you because I thought you already saw me as weak.” That crushed me. I realized I was so focused on limiting her phone, I missed the pain behind it.
That night, we talked—really talked—for the first time in ages. The phone wasn’t the problem. The bullying was. And what she needed wasn’t less screen time… but more support.
