(VIDEO) Your Kids Want You To Put Down Your Phone

According to a recent AVG study, 54% of children believe their parents overuse devices.  Some parents interviewed in the video above admitted to being glued to their phones for varying reasons. The parents also conceded that they want their children to spend less time on devices too.

In the video, parents are referred to as digital role models. Admittedly, modeling appropriate and healthy digital use is difficult at best and perhaps impossible in our increasingly connected world. I can't help but make a connection between my son's unwillingness to put down his phone at a recent restaurant visit and my husband's decision to use his phone to fill awkward silences at the dinner table. Are we sending the wrong message?

Parents in AVG's study admit that they struggle with keeping a work life balance due to continued availability afforded to them by their mobile devices. While I admit to completing work related tasks when I should be actively engaged with my family, the ability to have this sort of connection is also responsible for my ability to work from home and be available when my children need me.  So it's not all bad, but finding balance is very hard.

57% of children surveyed in the study were found to be distracted by mobile devices when trying to have face to face conversations. Surprisingly, the kids are aware of this distraction and admit they'd like to be less distracted. Perhaps even more surprising and unsettling is that the kids also say their parents are distracted and express a desire for their parents to be less distracted when talking to them.  The children said they feel unimportant when their parents are distracted while they are trying to talk.

That really tugs at my heart strings. No mom wants her kids to think they aren't important. Our children, we can all agree, are the most important people in our lives. I work from home because it's better for my son. I want to be available to him and present with him. But am I really? Not when I'm distracted by my device, or at least he may feel that I'm not.

Experts agree that parents aren't solely to blame for this phenomenon.  After all, parents of this generation are expected to be more available to their careers and commitments than ever before, constantly available.  It can be difficult to manage the expectation to be constantly available when you have a family at home that you need and want to put first.

What do the experts recommend? Not only setting limits and boundaries on digital time for your children, but monitoring and managing our own digital use and our “digital legacy.”