Well a few weeks back, I ordered a book called" Reset your Children's Brain," and it talks about the effects of long term screen time and how some children actually have negative effects on their behavior and character due to too much screen time. There was also a four week plan to detox children from the screen, but I thought that it would be so difficult to do, because of how often our kids play video games and youtube! I also talked to a friend about it once summer began, as she mentioned that I should have children do chores, reading, workbooks, and such first, then by the afternoon, as long as they behaved and did what they were supposed to, they would be then allowed to have a little time for screen time. Allowing them to earn it. I thought it was a great idea, but I never followed through with it!
Yesterday my husband was searching for yard sales in our area, and he came across an estate sell. We packed up the kids to go check it out. Well low and behold, the couple selling items were Stanford University professors(one being a scientist who specializes in algorithms for Human Connection!) and some how my husband Ken and him got on the topic of video games, and this scientists was sharing with us so many eye-opening information pertaining to humanity and the use of electronic devices and such, we decided that very day to limit the use of video games, youtube watching, and hand held devices for a few weeks!
My tween boy whom is eleven, is so into playing "Fort Night," the latest game for this age group, that it is all he likes to do now! I miss seeing him create masterpieces with his Legos, sketching, reading, experimenting with playing the key board, skateboarding, etc....It's like the gaming has taken over his creative side. They also say the effects of too much video games can cause the child/person to not be able to look a person in the eye, as the human connection feels awkward, there is withdrawal from others socially, quiet, more reserved, and not many other interests other than gaming.
Our tween boy is going to be our guinea pig in which we limit his use of gaming for three weeks. He doesn't know this yet!
The first day, he really was going through withdrawals: There were tears, anger, frustration, feeling tired, lack of motivation, and the I am "bored" statement.
The second day, he seemed more motivated to take care of himself without us reminding him: showering before church, getting dressed, actually making more eye contact, not as reserved with other human contact, interacting more with siblings, going outside, thinking more outside of the box for the time not gaming, e.g. playing cards with his sisters, kicking the ball around with his little brother,etc...
Kids were meant to explore, be creative, play amongst each other!
We are going to continue with our experiment, and I will continue to document the positive changes we note as we fast our children from screen time!
It would be very helpful if more families were on board with us, so we can keep each other accountable, in this journey. During this "fast," we will be spending more one on one time with our children, going out in nature more, getting out of house away from the temptation of television and the computer, planning more play-dates, more time at the local libraries, museums, and just enjoying the world around us, as there is so much for us to see, experience, and be thankful for!!!
