Featured Post from Offline.now

Holiday Phones, Real Kids: “Don’t Give a 10-Year-Old a 24/7 Device Without a Plan”

Coach and Offline.now founder Eli Singer helps parents move from panic and guilt to clear, realistic agreements around that first smartphone.

Dec 23, 2025

2 min

Eli Singer

Smartphones and tablets are among the hottest holiday gifts for tweens and teens. They’re also one of the biggest sources of parental anxiety.


“We’re giving 9, 10, 11-year-olds a pocket device with the power to nuke their sleep, social life and self-esteem — and we’re doing it with almost no training,” says Eli Singer, founder and CEO of Offline.now. “The question isn’t ‘Should kids have phones?’ It’s ‘What’s the plan for this incredibly powerful tool?’”


Singer, a coach and parent who lives with ADHD himself, takes a non-judgmental, shame-free approach with families. He’s blunt about the risks — social comparison, late-night scrolling, drama at school that now comes home in their pocket — but equally blunt that guilt doesn’t help.


“Parents are overwhelmed and scared. They’ve seen the headlines linking social media to anxiety and depression, and they feel like they’re already behind,” he says. “My job isn’t to scare them; it’s to help them write the first draft of a family agreement they can actually live with.”


Singer recommends three simple starting points over the holidays:

Bedrooms are sacred. Phones charge overnight outside kids’ rooms and ideally outside parents’ rooms, too.

  • Meals are for humans, not phones. A bowl or basket at the table becomes the visual reminder: we’re here together.
  • Model what you ask. If parents scroll through dinner or answer work emails at fireworks, kids get the message long before any rule is written.


Offline.now’s Digital Wellness Directory includes professionals who specialize in families, ADHD, and youth mental health; Singer positions Offline.now as the bridge between overwhelmed parents and the right expert help.


Why now

Late December is “first phone” season. January brings the real-world consequences: blown bedtimes, drama in group chats, school exhaustion. Singer can give reporters a nuanced, practical angle on holiday devices — beyond “phones are bad” vs. “phones are fine” — and concrete questions families can ask before they unwrap the box.


Available for interviews

  • Eli Singer - CEO of Offline.now; author of Offline.now: A Practical Guide to Healthy Digital Balance. I speak about practical behavior change, non-judgmental family agreements, and confidence-based starting points - and I can direct people to licensed professionals via the Offline.now Directory when needs go beyond coaching.



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