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3 Tech-Free Zones for Your Family
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3 Tech-Free Zones for Your Family
When it comes to family time, it should always be just that…family time! We’ve all encountered a situation when our phones may interrupt a moment in time unexpectedly. From buzzing text messages while at the dinner table, to calls coming in while driving to practice, or even app notification chimes while putting your kid to bed. These scenarios tend to happen more often than not and can continue to do so, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything you can do about it.
In the digital age, our devices play a significant role in our lives. They keep us connected, informed, and engaged. While our devices can’t completely ignored, we need to be able to disconnect at times and to know when and where it’s ok to say no. Afterall, we want to be able to set examples to our kids, reinforcing to them that family time spent together is highly valued. With that said, a good family practice is to create no-phone zones to take back family time.
Here are three common areas that you can make tech-free zones:
The dinner table. Eating together as a family has its benefits. Not only can it help create a healthy family dynamic, some things that can be credited to eating together include better grades and a healthier lifestyle. Blocking devices at the table is a great step in taking back family time. According to author, Sherry Turkle, the presence of a phone on the table makes people feel less conn.... Once it’s time for the family to gather to eat, simply ask everyone to turn off their phones, silence them, set them to “do not disturb”, or have them keep it somewhere away from the table. This can help set the stage for more conversation and quality family time.
The bedroom. Blue light emitted from cell phones is known to disrupt sleep. Poor sleep, in turn, can affect school performance, health, and well-being. Something you can do is take advantage of device settings, like iPhone’s Night Shift setting, that allow you to reduce brightness and make the colors warmer, or less blue. Even better, to make sure screen time doesn’t eat into important sleep time, you can set a specific time before bed for kids to hand over their phones and charge them elsewhere. This way you can be assured they aren’t using their phones until the wee hours of the night.
The car. Being a passenger in a car might seem to be a good time to catch up on games, text messages, or even social media. When that happens, it interferes with the conversations you tend to have with your kids when driving them around. A solution to keep them less distracted would be to have them keep their phones in their pocket, bag, or even glove compartment until you reach your destination. Sometimes deep talks take place in the car and you may find yourself having quality conversation.
Do you currently have tech free zones in your home? Let us know below in the comments section!
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