I don't have any kids, but I'm currently staying with my sister again. At the moment we have actually been working on reducing her phone addiction. She only had a smart phone late from the age of 16/17 too but she can literally spend hours i'm being honest on her phone on tik tok, snapchat and instagram . We didn't go cold turkey as she needs some of the groups she's in + her music when she goes to the gym, but she has her hour then hands her phone to me.The metaverse thing terrifies me, my children are 9,7 and 5. They are all autistic and completely addicted to screens, it's the biggest mistake I made as a parent.
I never saw it as an issue because they've grown up with screens and up until the last year or 2 weren't really interested in them, they would rather play with toys or together, they loved going out and being in nature.
Since the pandemic, they have become addicted, going from one screen to another.
They absolutely hate going out now, I'm not sure if its because of lockdown but they would rather stay inside.
They love customising their online characters and my 9 year old is quite insecure about how he looks and even hates his own voice (school bullies, but pulled them out of school in 2019) so I can see how the metaverse would appeal to them.
It's only been a week or so but I really can notice the difference in her too. She also now has time to read, study and rest properly.
I don't know the realities of autism, but your children are still children and if you want to reduce the screen time it's still not too late, just do it gradually and slowly. Try to fill their time up with other activities so there's not enough time for the screens.