Dad takes away daughters' phones so they would play outdoors — the girls had no idea what to do
When one dad, Charles Lavea (@lifewithlaveas), had enough of screens dominating his kids’ lives, he decided to take matters, and their devices, into his own hands. He wanted his daughters to go out and enjoy the weather, and later recorded their unexpected reactions. Lavea turned the experiment into a viral sensation, posting a glimpse of his daughters' reaction on TikTok—and the world couldn’t look away. Although he wasn’t so happy with the results initially, he realized it was one of the best decisions that he had ever made.
Lavea, a dad from Auckland, New Zealand, decided to reduce his kids' screentime and wanted them to enjoy the real world. As reported by Newsweek, he said, "It was a nice day outside. I thought we could go get food and eat at the park." He added, "I took my daughters' devices, phones, and iPads from them and left them at home. I wanted them to get some sun and fresh air, so we went." You can see the results of the experiment in the TikTok clip shared by Lavea. His daughters were seen sitting on swings, drifting back and forth with no energy, clearly not knowing what to do without their devices, as reported by Upworthy.
@lifewithlaveas This generation man 🤣🤣🤦 I remember growing up all we did was play at the park with the kids in the neighbourhood 🤷 #lifewithlaveas #girldad #funnymoments #trendingsound #titanicflutefail #tiktokparent #viralvideos #fyp ♬ original sound - LifeWithLaveas
It seemed like they were just waiting for their dad’s strange experiment to end. Their slumped shoulders and blank stares say it all. Lavea explained that he posted the video to show the huge difference between his childhood and the world his daughters are growing up in today. He said, "I laughed because at that age I loved the park and running around." He further claimed that this probably won’t be the last screen-free day his daughters will have. As the video went viral, social media users were quick to react to the experiment in the comment section.
One TikTok user, @eml_0911, commented, “Honestly, the kids nowadays have no idea how to play outside, eh? My kids, too. I used to run out the door and never came back till the street lights turned on.” Another person, @caseywati, rightly said, “It’s honestly such a sad reality that we now live in a time where young people are so reliant on devices for joy or entertainment, etc, I miss growing up in the 90's as a kid.” Similarly, @mynamejeff099 wrote, “Oh my gosh, kids look lifeless, we would swing high as, see who can jump the farthest, these or fight over who's gonna go up the slide the wrong way, and other kids waiting to slide down the slide. OMG.”
However, a few others also defended the kids as one TikTok user, @jaszimcgee, commented, “All these people saying 'when I was a kid...' When we were kids (88 baby here), we didn't have this technology, if we did, I’m pretty sure we’d be exactly the same.” Another one, @ashleejames2023, pointed out, “I love how all the kids are getting the blame but like who bought them the technology, cause I’m pretty sure we did, so like that’s our fault.” Phones and tablets have changed how kids' brains work, and playing outside just can't compete with the fast, easy excitement they get from screens.