Screen-Free Week: May 2 - 8, 2016

Presented by Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood, the annual Screen-Free Week event has been staunchly and steadily encouraging parents to minimize the time young children spend in front of TV/Video games/Computers/iPad screens.

For the 5th year in a row, I am happy to be writing about Screen-Free Week that has freed up so much time for kids everywhere so they can pursue their many talents and interests without passively vegetating.

Just as we have been doing in the last decade or more , we are doing nothing special for the Screen-Free Week for kids this year simply because,  "School Days/Weekdays are not Watch days"  in our house. Keep it simple. No complicated rules that are subject to parental whims.

To set a good example, the adults at home don't watch TV on weekdays either -- year-round, not just one week in May. [At least, not while kids are awake. If watching happens past kids' bedtime it is entirely up to the parents to be comfortable and/or discreet about it. Besides the obvious benefit for the kids, it is has been a huge relief for me as a parent to have set and adhered to a specific bedtime for kids right from their infancy, despite the struggles that came with enforcing it.]

The tougher decision these days for parents seems to stem from iPad and other handheld devices that offer a number of games and streaming shows with effortless access. It is wonderful if kids have a self-timer and have enough self-control to limit their iPad/game times. In case they don't, a kitchen timer comes in handy. There will be struggles some days when the timer goes off and their turn is done, but kids are not done with the game they are playing currently and want extra time to "win this level, just this level, please?" I've been anything from strict put-it-away-right-now military sergeant to fine-do-what-you-want lenient mom in this regard based on what else has been going on in kids' lives [and mine] that day, that week...

Knowing that I spend hours in front of a computer during my work days, it has been easier to consciously unplug when I sign off from work in the evenings. Having succumbed to the wiles of Temple Run, Candy Soda Crush Saga, PVZ, Power of 2, Trivia, Two Dots, Tetris Blitz, Scramble et al at various times, I can understand how hard it can be to switch off for kids. And that is precisely what helped: Switch OFF the device and stow it away, and engage in the next chosen activity - be it playing board games or dancing or reading aloud a favorite poem by Shel Silverstein...

Uninstalling Facebook App and turning off Notifications from FB Messenger and other apps, plus putting the smartphone on Do Not Disturb mode for 3 hours every evening around dinner has worked well for Conscious Disengagement. By finding strategies that work for me, it is easier to help my kids with strategies to disentangle themselves from any screen-dependencies, should they arise as they grow older. It is much more musical for me to hear, "Mama is busy cooking/reading/gardening, so she is  not available now," than, "Mama is staring at her iPhone and won't respond to me now."


[image source: http://www.screenfree.org/]

Screen-Free Week May 4 - 10, 2015

It's that time of the year again to spread the word about the importance of minimizing the time kids spend in front of screens - passively or actively -- meaning, watching TV shows, or playing interactive video/iPad games.

While Zero-Screen-Time has never been the goal at home, it has become a habit for kids to not watch TV/Movies on weekdays, because "School days are not Watch days." Kids do get to watch on weekends, based on how much "watch time" they have earned, but since we don't have Cable or Network television programming hooked up, they get to choose from a limited array of streaming content, which can get tiresome and uninteresting pretty quickly.

What about video games and iPad games? It depends on the child - their age, their interests, and their self-control. What has worked well so far is to allow daily iPad use with some sensible conditions around it that kids have agreed to: earn 30 minutes of iPad time thrice a week after school if they have put away their lunch things from school, unloaded the dishwasher, and had at least half an hour of outside play time on a non-soggy day. And, part of the time is spent learning something new - be it a new word, or a new animal fact, or how to cook a new dish, or about a country/culture/language. Just one new thing - make it a game for the kids to share this new thing at dinner time.

The toughest part is to get the kids on board and have them understand why it is important; after that, they can self-correct and develop a discipline of limiting their screen time.

Whatever works for each family is the best approach, there is no single formula to ensure success.

[image source: http://www.screenfree.org/]

Screen Free Week: May 5 - 11

"Screen time" is one of those modern ideas that strongly polarize the parent community. What is screen time? How much of it should my kids have? What studies are out there to show any correlation one way or another? Why should it matter - our kids are in a new digital age and surely evolution has made way for this?

Since there is no regulating and certifying agency for media ads that kids are exposed to, television programming has been out of commission in our house. No cable TV or network TV watching. We catch the shows streamed  on other devices, ads-free, of course, as and when we feel the urge.

Daydreaming, Pretend Play, Dress Up, Reading, Writing, Playing Board Games and other games, Crafting, Art exploration, Walk Around the Block are some of the thing we'll be doing this week, much as every other week. Much the same as last year, or the year before... Not a zero-tolerance policy for just one random week, but, a thoughtful rationing of digital entertainment that has worked best for us in the long run.

As CCFC's Screen Free campaign states, Screen Free Week is:

The international celebration where children, families, schools, and communities spend seven days turning OFF digital entertainment* and turning ON life! It’s a time to unplug and play, read, daydream, create, explore nature, and spend time with family and friends.
*work and school assignments not included

Screen-free Week: Apr 29 - May 5, 2013

It seems like only yesterday I was writing about this very same topic and here I am again, a year later.

This year, besides our usual house rule of "School Days are not Watch Days" which has become second nature to us, we've revisited what "screen free" means for us. Web-chat with grandparents? Playing LetsTans? Browsing cake wrecks? Am sure it will evolve over time as kids grow older.

If the initial intention of this movement was to reduce the passive television watching time for kids, I am sure the message is very much embedded in our collective societal minds by now.

What about those little handheld devices - phones with screens that do more than phone calls?

Since I don't have a smartphone/iDevice I  have no reason to be staring at this small rectangular screen while pretending to be listening to my kids as I am 'just checking my email or posting an FB status'.

If I do have a pet peeve these days (don't I have a lot of those!) it is that how ubiquitous it has become for adults to hold a device in their palm, focus their eyes on it, and try to carry on a conversation with another at the same time.

Sure, the device provides many advantages, one can check one's calendar/email, share photos right away, organize social events, be efficient... and I am sure I have been secretly yearning to own one. I have nothing against the device per se, clearly.

But, when one is interacting with another human being in person, it seems a terribly rude message to say, 'You are not important enough for me to look at your eyes when I talk to you now and give you my undivided attention for these few minutes; I'd really rather be looking at this inanimate device which is amazingly indispensable for me. Sure I am listening to your words, I am responding to your words aren't I? Am having a conversation with you. So what if my eyes are not on you?'

Moving on, I think if and when I get the smartphone device that I've been resisting - not that I am a Luddite or anything, well, actually, I might be and not even know it - I think I'll certainly revisit this particular pet peeve and see it in a new light and be more tolerant and understanding, I'm sure. (Not)

As to television, it is going to remain turned off this week, not because this is a special week, not because we'll be denying ourselves something special, but because School Days are not Watch Days for us as we have plenty of other things we enjoy doing... and, when we do get our 'watch time' on weekends, we know it is one of the things we've chosen to do among many other choices that day.

Incidentally, besides JKRowling whom she idolizes, asking about when she started to write and reveling in the anecdote of how Rowling was rejected by quite a few  publishers before Harry Potter was accepted for publishing, the 8 yo has also been quite fascinated with Roald Dahl since the beginning of this year.

She loves this piece by Dahl which I have printed out and stuck on their playroom wall, and seems like a perfect spokes-poem for the theme of the week.


Television

The most important thing we've learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set --
Or better still, just don't install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we've been,
We've watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone's place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they're hypnotised by it,
Until they're absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don't climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink --
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK -- HE ONLY SEES!
'All right!' you'll cry. 'All right!' you'll say,
'But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!'
We'll answer this by asking you,
'What used the darling ones to do?
'How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?'
Have you forgotten? Don't you know?
We'll say it very loud and slow:
THEY ... USED ... TO ... READ! They'd READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching 'round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good, what can it be?
Good gracious, it's Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and-
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How the Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
There's Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole-
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks-
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They'll now begin to feel the need
Of having something to read.
And once they start -- oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts. They'll grow so keen
They'll wonder what they'd ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.

--Roald Dahl

Screen-free Week: Apr 30 - May 6, 2012

"Screen-free Week" (Apr 30 - May 6) urges us to curtail the time spent in front of TV/handheld screens consuming passive and sedentary entertainment, especially for the kids.

Shouldn't need a special week to celebrate this conscious limitation/abstinence, but, am sure it serves as a reminder to be more purposeful about it.

I don't think we'd be making any major adjustments for this celebration thanks to a long-established house rule, primarily for the kids: School days are not Watch days.

This simplified the whining and negotiating, and the ambiguity surrounding it based on my mood and whim: If this is not a weekend (Friday evening through Sunday evening), then we don't get to watch. (Holidays and Vacation days are exempt from this rule as they are not "School Days".)

Of course, there's always the associated whining about, "Why is it a school day today? I wish it was Friday already!" But, at least, the TV is off and they are chasing each other around the house or otherwise engaging in interactions and activities of their choice, not even entertaining the possibility of asking for the TV to be turned on, knowing that none of their wiles will produce the desired result.

And, weekends aren't automatically plonk-in-front-of-TV days either. They have to earn each half-hour of "watch time". Doing chores like folding the clothes, sweeping the floor as well as random acts of tidying up (making the bed is Ana's favorite) or helping out (sous chef duties seem to be Og's current favorite), or hours of outdoor play lets them earn this privilege on non-soggy weekends.

Plus, there is always other fun things to do than sit and stare at the TV even on weekends.

Of course, I do hand them the iPad and take that extra dose of migraine medication and lie down with a cold compress, curtains drawn, as and when the situation arises, weekend or not. No guilt there, as overall, I am convinced their screen time is within an acceptable range that D and I are comfortable with.

Where am I going with all this elaboration? Nowhere in particular. Just that we embrace the Screen-free Week in principle and do what works for us. Which, I guess, is what I envision happening around the world anyway, thanks to the awareness raised by the Screen-free Week celebration.

Ten Years of Cable-TV-Free Living!

A fine day few months ago marked the completion of 10 years of Cable-TV-Free life!

A little over a decade ago when we moved to this wonderful city, the other half and I were both unemployed, steeped in student loans, with zero savings to speak of. So we took whatever jobs we could find (including an unexpected stint at a pizza place).

Naturally inclined to frugal living - frugal, not miserly - we splurged on what we thought was important, conscious not to fret over a carelessly misspent penny.

That was the time we decided that Cable TV was a frivolous indulgence we didn't need.

And we've not regretted that decision to this day.

Of course, the trend of consuming home-entertainment has changed over the last few years with TiVo and streaming videos on the Internet. Gone are the days when getting popcorn ready, making sure the beer was cold, and bunking out at the coziest spot on the couch at the appointed time to watch a sitcom or drama show was the highlight of certain evenings.

As a student, I remember rushing over to a friend's house to watch Star Trek TNG or X-Files as a group, savoring the togetherness and the common experience. Today, I catch Jon Stewart on hulu in weekly doses and don't feel left out of the water fountain chats; and D manages to watch whatever interests him at his convenience on his handheld. Kids do get to watch PBS and some DVDs and Instant Play shows via Netflix - it has never been zero screen time for them - selective and specific, a balance of education and entertainment...

I am rambling...

I just wanted to dedicate a post to celebrate that decision we made a decade ago which has freed up endless hours for me to pursue my interests, enjoy the kids, manage my commitments, even if I feel disconnected as I didn't know what happened last night in Mad Men or Breaking Bad or Merlin or John Colbert. I can always find out 6 months later from a weekend of binge-watching :)

[p.s: I can't seem to write a post without having pictures in it, as if the pictures somehow emphasize and validate my thoughts... so I made one up in a flash thanks to free clipart!]