5 things to say to someone who won't get off their phone

Trying to talk to someone fixated on their phone is such a universal experience, there's a name for it: phubbing, short for "phone snubbing," or ignoring someone in favor of a phone.

- BY ANGELA HAUPT

"Everyone hates it, but everyone has also done it," says Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University and author of the upcoming book 10 Rules for Raising Kids in a High-Tech World. "When someone phubs you, you feel like you're not important-that whatever is on their phone is more important than you." Phubbing negatively affects mental health, relationship satisfaction, and overall well-being.

That's why it's worth speaking up about digital distraction. "It's challenging and awkward, but we should be doing this," Twenge says. "We need to be confronting this situation." Here's exactly what to say when the person you're trying to talk to won't put down their phone.