Joanna Gaines shares trick to break kids' cellphone addictions

Rachel Paula Abrahamson
Updated ·2 min read
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Joanna Gaines is sharing her trick for ridding adults and kids of smartphone addiction.

“We have this little station where everyone charges their phones,” Joanna, 43, told TODAY co-hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie on Thursday.

The “Fixer Upper” star, who shares children Drake, 16, Ella, 14, Duke, 13, Emmie, 11, and Crew, 3, with husband Chip Gaines, explained that the incessant notifications began to affect their daily life. If someone was reading a book and got an alert, they'd put down the book to check their phone.

“It just became a house rule, when you’re at home, that all the phones go in one spot, so if you want to check a text, if you want to check an email, you go to that spot, but it’s not on your (body)," Joanna said.

Hoda, who is mom to daughters Hope, 2, and Haley, 4, called the policy “brilliant.”

There was a point where Joanna wasn't even sure if she would allow her kids to have cellphones.

"We want to teach our kids that life happens outside of these devices," she said during a 2016 appearance on "Entertainment Tonight." "It's just a simple thing to go outside and connect with nature, play with your friends and get dirty."

Last year, Al Roker revealed that every evening before bed, he locks his 18-year-old son Nick’s phone in a small safe.

“Just overnight,” Al told TODAY Parents.

Parenting and youth development expert Dr. Deborah Gilboa applauded Al’s strategy.

“It’s really healthy for kids to have a break from the potential 24/7 of social interactions,” Gilboa previously told TODAY Parents. “They also need good sleep. And it’s really hard to ignore notifications.”