Page Text

How - And Why To Have a Family

Digital Detox

WORDS Cheryl Magyar

DO YOU EVER HAVE THE sensation that you are scrolling into an alluring abyss of information? And the deeper you dive into news, world events, weather, cute cat and dog videos, blog posts and tutorials of projects you'll simply never have time to accomplish, the more confused and disorientated you seem to be about finding your place and meaning in the world? In recent years it has become all too easy to embrace technology. It's cheap, entertaining, and it gives us something to do. Gadgets even act as babysitters while us adults are engaged in something "social". We stay online far more hours than we should to stay connected, when in fact it is our real life relationships that need tending to. Perhaps, like all things novel, we have taken this love for the screen, too far, too fast.

The statistics of how much time we spend online are staggering! We are not only looking at the amount of time that adults spend on their smartphones, kids are equally in danger of missing out on life beyond the screen. Take the following into consideration and reflect upon your own usage of digital time: UK adults average 8 hours and 41 minutes a day staring at screens. Be this for work or pleasure, it is a generous amount of time that could be spent doing other, more meaningful activities. At the same time, children are spending an average of 6 and a half hours a day searching for happiness behind buttons. A fraction of onscreen time may be spent in school, which may be useful for learning, but the rest is up to the conscience of the individual. However, more important than looking at how much time kids are computer-/iPad-/phonebound, why not investigate the real life experiences that they are missing out on?

Technology keeps us distracted, but it does not prevent us from being bored. Eventually there comes a point in your digital life when far too many beeps, pings and email notifications become an intrusion in your private life. And the digital intoxication keeps coming, so long as our batteries are fully charged - and they usually are. We, humans, can still outsmart our smartphones though. We must first realize that a digital addiction is harmful in the long - and short - run, and that internet addiction is a real thing. Luckily there is an "off " button that we can press when the anxiety, overwhelm and frustration of a life lived online becomes >

34

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2019 www.thegreenparent.co.uk