Easter without screens: take advantage of these days to reduce dependence on mobile
Start the Easter, a holiday period that can be used for many things. From the rest to cultural activities such as visiting the steps and immerse yourself in this tradition that has been celebrated so much. These days can also become a very propitious time to reduce dependence on smartphones that everyone can present.
In Easter families can take advantage to consume fewer screens and more time together. There is much more you can enjoy the young and the elderly and that is not present in their smartphones, these days serve to discover all these activities. You just have to make a common commitment to start using these technologies more responsibly.
Commitment and rules
As indicated from the Ministry of Health of the Valencian Community The first step to reduce the dependence on mobiles is to establish a series of clear rules. Parents can take advantage of the start of Holy Week to propose this challenge: consume fewer smartphones and more time in family, a goal for which standards will be established.
For example, if the family goes out to see the steps in procession, you must avoid taking out your smartphone unless you want to take a picture of what you are seeing. Another rule may be during family meals, typical of these dates, where the screens should stay off the table. Instead, we encourage children to enjoy games with their relatives of the same age or to chat with adults and other teenagers at the event.
In response to the social use of smartphones and social networks, parents should encourage their children, especially teenagers, to leave virtual meetings and perform them in person. They are on vacation, they can take advantage of activities that during the rest of the course they can not realize and that without a doubt they are going to entertain them.
Not only must there be rules, parents must make their children commit to follow them. Getting children and teenagers to reduce their screen consumption, not only in the case of smartphones or tablets, but also computers or video game consoles. It is not about not using these technologies, but about learning to use them in a more correct and efficient way.
Lead by example
What is the use of proposing to reduce screen consumption at Easter if the parents do not assume this commitment either? New technologies have arrived for everyone, including the elderly in the house. Adults must also learn to use these devices and not get carried away by misuse of these screens.
These are some proposals collected by children in the study Not at the Dinner Table: Parents' and Children's Perspectives on Family Technology Rules so that their parents pay less attention to their screens and more to themselves:
- That their parents do not use new technologies in certain contexts such as the game or when they try to tell something important.
- Do not share information such as photographs of your children on social networks.
- That parents assume the same rules they want to impose on their children.
Damián Montero
