This week is Screen Free Week, the national effort to spend a week unplugged from our electronic devices and plugged into...each other, the great outdoors, our neglected books and artwork, or whatever else. It used to be national "Turn Off the TV" week, which seemed to be easier (especially for us, since we don't even own a TV). But as our children's time has been increasingly taken up with the proliferating electronic devices they use for entertainment, so has the scope of Screen Free Week.
My son and I will be participating in Screen Free Week, although we are still figuring out how to make it work for us. Some things are easy. My son has agreed not to play his Wii or his computer games for the week. But so much of our schooling and working involves the computer, we are not just going to shut those down for a week. So we are going to try to use the computer for educational, work, and communication responsibilities, but try to refrain from using it for entertainment. But there is a fine line there, especially for me. I don't play computer games, but how much of the surfing the web that I do is really necessary for educational purposes, and when does it morph into entertainment? It's hard to tell.
Nonetheless, it's a great thing to do every year just to become more aware of our computer and other electronics usage. We are already great readers here, and it's a good time of year to spend time outdoors, so it is great time for us to make a conscious effort to replace electronics with those activities. And who knows what other realizations may occur to us during this week? We'll let you know.....
People use to fast for a week at least once a year... Now we unplug. I've done it this year already, in September, and this week won't work for me. I will schedule an unplugged week again later in the year, though! It's a very interesting feeling.
ReplyDeleteYou are right--it is good for our overstimulated minds, but like a fast is good for (in modern America, at least) our often over-indulged bodies.
ReplyDelete