My 11 year old daughter got a Blackberry for her birthday in November and now uses BBM. She also became interested in talking to her friends on a chat facility on her Ipod touch. It is becoming a total nightmare to the extent that I googled phone addiction to discover I am not the only parent with concerns. She has always been very well behaved and a lovely child but has now become sneaky, tells lies, gets hysterical when told to put her devices away and when it gets to the point that it is confiscated (as it has now) she feels sick, dizzy, bored, fed up and binge eats. She has never been allowed to take her devices to her room or use them at bedtime but it is clear that all of her friends seem to and their parents do not have a clue that they are not asleep as the Blackberry beeps into the early hours. We are keen to nip this problem in the bud but I wondered if any other parents have advice? We would prefer she managed the devices herself but she does not seem able to and after the initial protestation and withdrawal symptoms when they are taken away, she seems to be relieved that she can go back to normal.
Any advice?