TikTok-addicted father gets colouring book from his children to curb screentime

Children are usually the ones told to put their phones away, but one Malaysian family found themselves doing the exact opposite.

In a bid to help their TikTok-loving father spend less time scrolling, they handed him an old-school alternative: a colouring book.

In a Threads post by user aimanariffinnn on Tuesday (Sept 1), a man in a blue shirt with a floral pattern is seen seated with an open colouring book on his lap as he carefully fills in its pages. 

The post was captioned: "We had to give our dad a colouring book to cure his TikTok addiction and reduce his screentime. Does anyone have a dad like that? Haha."

In a follow-up video posted in the comments, the same user shared a clip of his father proudly showing off his artwork to the family as he flipped through the pages. 

The user commented: "Part two: He's excited to show off his artwork. Please share some encouraging words, guys. I hope he recovers quickly rather than becoming addicted."

The posts suggest that the father has taken up colouring as an alternative to scrolling through TikTok, turning a simple childhood pastime into a creative way to cut down on screen time.

The light-hearted intervention struck a chord with many netizens, some of whom shared their own experiences of helping older family members spend less time on their phones.

The post has garnered close to 11,000 likes and over 200 comments as of Wednesday night. 

One netizen commented: "As a doctor who has elderly parents and who works with geriatric patients daily, they are big babies. Don't scold them, just be patient." 

"I also gave my 72-year-old mother a coloring book to reduce screen time. Last month, I entered a coloring competition for the elderly and, Alhamdulillah, she got third place," said another. 

"I also bought Paint by Numbers and Sudoku for my grandmother to cure (her) phone addiction," a netizen wrote. 

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esther.lam@asiaone.com