Our internet connection went down right in the middle of school holidays. This was devastating news for my six year old who is obsessed with electronic devices and I was also feeling broken at the thought of how I was going to run my business while looking after my 6 month old baby and entertaining my energetic son.
I now see this as a blessing. I believe kids need to get bored so they get creative. We live in a world where everyone demands our attention with an instant response. We send texts and emails and are always on call being so plugged into technology, we miss out on living our lives, but instead we are more concerned about updating our status online than being present with ourselves and our kids.
I wrote a chapter in my award winning book “Mother Om” called Unplug and Play. The affects technology has on our kids is pretty shocking. Their imagination gets suppressed which affects their creativity. Their posture is hunched over as they frantically play violent video games which research has shown means that our kids grow up with less empathy. This has an effect on their ability to have great relationships with others. I see these issues already present in pre-schoolers as some of them cannot even touch their toes when I am teaching them kids yoga. My son is already addicted to playing mindless games online instead of wanting to play outside. Steve Jobs did not let his kids play on an IPad so why do we allow our kids to be constantly plugged in. Being plugged in damages the most important part of your kids developing brain according to a recent study . The pre-frontal cortex is where your child learns how to self regulate.
Dr.Victoria Dunkley from Psychology Today states “As a practitioner, I observe that many of the children I see suffer from sensory overload, lack of restorative sleep and a hyperaroused nervous system, regardless of diagnosis—what I call electronic screen syndrome. These children are impulsive, moody, and can’t pay attention—much like the description in the quote above describing damage seen in scans”.
The original playstation was playing outside. Now with obesity rates at epic portions our kids are turning into overstimulated couch potatoes and they are so tired at the end of the day that they are wired. They cannot sleep soundly so they wake up groggy and start the day with a bowl of sugary cereal. This is not setting them up for success. They are then expected to sit still for long periods of time at school which in my opinion trains them well for a job in an office which for me was soul destroying.
For the last month we have had no internet so instead my son has been drawing incredible artwork, making mobiles, playing with toys that have been sitting in a toy box for years and reading books. He has very proudly finished his first book “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” which he has read all by himself. As an author I have encouraged and nurtured this and he now goes to bed happily reading every night.
I must confess I had been using computer time as a reward for my son getting ready for school as it took a while for us to get in the flow in the mornings with my baby girl. However, now we have created a schedule for computer time and my son must earn this time. I don’t believe in denying his time online as it is part of our world and that will fuel his obsession even more, but having a fixed schedule will help manage the meltdowns when I tell him to get offline. Introducing a timer has also worked as our kids have no concept of time.
I work with families who all want to be more mindful and feel more connected. I always recommend that they unplug and play. Switch off all technology and go for a walk in the park together.
I love it when my phone battery dies so I can switch off and relax.
How do you unplug and play?
