As the New Year begins, it's natural to think about resolutions and ways to improve our habits and routines, including tech time expectations. But instead of focusing on revamping screen time rules, I've been thinking about the moments over the past year when my family and I turned off, or turned over, our devices and were more present with each other.
In particular, I’ve been thinking about what I call “unspoken screen rules”--all the times we log off, consciously and unconsciously.
One of my resolutions was to talk with my family about all this over the weekend. My hope was that it would reinforce these good habits and that my family would feel appreciated.
I loved knowing that such a conversation would add positivity to our unspoken "family emotional piggy bank," which is great to have in the bank when tech troubles inevitably arise.
So I did just that. I shared some examples of times when I noticed that people in the family did not have their phones out or “logged off” in other ways. It was really fun to talk about all this.
It feels great that I already checked off one resolution by having that conversation! I’m all for a resolution that can be completed in a night. I got this idea from Jason Gay’s recent lighthearted article in the Wall Street Journal titled More New Year’s Resolutions You Can Actually Keep.
Questions to use to get the conversation started:
As well as our weekly blog, we publish videos like this one every week on the Screenagers YouTube channel
As the New Year begins, it's natural to think about resolutions and ways to improve our habits and routines, including tech time expectations. But instead of focusing on revamping screen time rules, I've been thinking about the moments over the past year when my family and I turned off, or turned over, our devices and were more present with each other.
In particular, I’ve been thinking about what I call “unspoken screen rules”--all the times we log off, consciously and unconsciously.
One of my resolutions was to talk with my family about all this over the weekend. My hope was that it would reinforce these good habits and that my family would feel appreciated.
I loved knowing that such a conversation would add positivity to our unspoken "family emotional piggy bank," which is great to have in the bank when tech troubles inevitably arise.
So I did just that. I shared some examples of times when I noticed that people in the family did not have their phones out or “logged off” in other ways. It was really fun to talk about all this.
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READ MORE >for more like this, DR. DELANEY RUSTON'S NEW BOOK, PARENTING IN THE SCREEN AGE, IS THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE FOR TODAY’S PARENTS. WITH INSIGHTS ON SCREEN TIME FROM RESEARCHERS, INPUT FROM KIDS & TEENS, THIS BOOK IS PACKED WITH SOLUTIONS FOR HOW TO START AND SUSTAIN PRODUCTIVE FAMILY TALKS ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND IT’S IMPACT ON OUR MENTAL WELLBEING.
