Mother says girl was initially reluctant, surprised tactic has worked. Creative solution entertains many and sparks broader discussion. — SCMP
A grandfather, who put a dog cone on his five-year-old granddaughter to prevent her from spending so much time on her mobile phone, has been congratulated for his ingenuity by viewers of Chinese social media.
The man from Xian, in the central province of Shaanxi, stumbled upon the solution on Dec 7 when he noticed the little girl persistently playing games on the phone during a car journey.
In the car was a new dog cone of the type that is usually used to stop dogs licking their wounds after injury or surgery, which he placed carefully around her neck.
The girl’s mother, surnamed Yuan, said: “The kid was initially very resistant because she couldn’t look at the phone, and because she knew the collar was meant for dogs. Even though it was new, she was still very opposed to it.”
Her daughter’s reluctance is captured in a trending online video, which shows the little girl sitting in the car holding a phone, with a pink dog cone collar around her neck, refusing to leave the car.
When her grandfather finally removes her phone and takes her out of the car, she protests with a sad face: “No, no! This is for dogs!”
“No, it’s specially bought for you. It’s pink. It’s yours,” her mother humorously reassures her.
Yuan later revealed that the approach was surprisingly effective at curbing her daughter’s “addiction”.
“For the next two days, whenever she wanted to use the phone, I put the collar on her. After wearing it for two or three days, she no longer wanted the phone, so we don’t use it anymore,” Yuan told BaiLu Video.
The creative solution has entertained many online viewers and sparked broader discussions about its application.
“This dog collar is even pink. Are you sure the grandfather didn’t prepare it on purpose?” One person commented.
“Actually, if you hold the phone a bit higher wearing this collar, you can still see it... so I also recommend it to young adults with neck problems as a result of being addicted to phones,” another noted.
Not everybody is a fan of the unusual tactic with one saying: “We have used this method at home, but it didn’t work for my kid. It would be more effective if adults lead by example and did not use phones.”
“This is more for laughs, it’s not really practical. To get children off phones, you need to divert their attention and cultivate their interests,” remarked another.
Parents in China have creatively adopted other pet accessories to educate and protect their children.
In October 2022, a tech blogger recommended using GPS-equipped pet collars to track and ensure the safety of children, gaining widespread support among online viewers. – South China Morning Post
