Comments (0)

By Mom Unplugged, January 8, 2011 11:21 am

More than 600 teens from a high school in Washington State recently conducted an experiment in which they quit social media-use and texting for one week. Thanks to teacher Trent Mitchell who came up with this “Social Experiment” (Theme: “What was life like in 1995?”), kids learned to communicate the “old-fashioned” way: by calling friends and parents on the phone and actually speaking. Many of the teens had never spoken to friends on the phone before, and found that their friends were awkward conversationalists:

But [Cole Sweeten, 17] likes getting calls. He prefers a real “Hey, how are you?” to a “Hello” text with a smiley face. “People sound different when they’re on the phone,” he said. “It’s emotion, not just little lines.”

Another teen, Eimanne El Zein, 17, reported that it felt “weird” giving it up, but that each day got easier and she was able to take more time for exercise, like running with her dogs, something she never had time to do when Facebook was in her life.

Advice from 16 year-old Nicholi Wytovicz:

…activities such as shooting hoops or watching basketball are better distractions than ones that take 10 or 15 minutes, he said. “Do something that fills time in large segments,” he advised.

Comments (8)

By Mom Unplugged, October 18, 2008 9:13 am

Many times when people find out that we have no TV they look at me as if I am from another planet. I suppose to them, it is as if I am saying that we have no indoor plumbing, or running water. TV has become as much a part of our lives nowadays as central heat and a flush toilet. Most people take TV for granted and view it as one of life’s necessities.

However, just because I have no TV does not mean that I am a luddite. Obviously I love my computer and my high-speed internet access (perhaps too much). Technology can be a wonderful thing, but like many wonderful things, I believe that it is best used in moderation.

Deciding to adopt an unplugged lifestyle is a matter of degree. The one extreme would be no TV, videos, computer…nothing with a screen…EVER. The other end of the unplugged spectrum is to allow the use of all those things, but in moderation.

For those of us who do wish to live some form of screen-free life, the degree to which we do so is very much a matter of personal choice. What works for one individual or family, might not work for another.

My family is somewhere in the middle. Although we are without a TV signal here in this remote part of Arizona (having chosen not to install cable or satellite), we do own “the box” which I inherited from my mother. I allow occasional videos or DVDs. I also allow some limited computer time for the two oldest who like to play educational games. We have no TV-based video games and I even try to avoid loud talking, flashing toys. I prefer quiet ones that offer more open-ended, imaginative play.

When we are away from home and someplace with a TV, I allow the kids to watch some. They find this totally fascinating and consider it a big treat. What’s more, they’ll watch ANYTHING and are just as happy watching the Food Network as they are PBS Kids.

So for anyone who has been lurking here because you are considering reducing or eliminating screens from your family’s life, I hope you feel encouraged by this post. It never occurs to many people that it is all simply a matter of degree!

You don’t have to cut it all off. You don’t have to do it cold turkey. You don’t have to rip out your plumbing and build an outhouse.

My advice: Don’t be afraid to experiment. Adjust your screen time until you find just the right balance for you and your children.

Comments (3)

By Mom Unplugged, March 27, 2008 9:06 am

I have been unusually silent this week. We are in Albuquerque for Spring Break and between stomach flu, running errands, and trips to the zoo, the aquarium, and Taos, there has not been much time for blogging!

Of course in Albuquerque there are stores more exciting than our Walmart, and children’s activities more novel than the local playground, but one of the most unusual things (for us) that is in Albuquerque, is television. Amazingly, apart from some early-morning fascination with PBS, the kids don’t seem to care much about watching it. Running around catching bugs in the courtyard is much more in keeping with their usual lifestyle.

I haven’t watched much TV either, however I did happen to catch most of this Today Show segment yesterday morning on “overly-wired” families and the benefits of unplugging. In typical Today Show format it was pretty rapid-fire without a lot of substantive information, but it could be worth a quick look for anyone interested in the subject.

Is Your Family Too Wired?

Comments (10)

By Mom Unplugged, February 21, 2008 3:31 pm

(

On NPR’s Morning Edition this morning was a VERY interesting story (“Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills“) about how children’s play has changed in the last century. Instead of engaging in self-directed, imaginative, improvised play, play has become centered around toys and the latest movie or TV show: “Essentially, instead of playing pirate with a tree branch” they play “Star Wars with a toy light saber.”

Commercialization is only partly to blame, as child safety has become more of a concern in recent years. Parents are now more reluctant to let their children run loose around the neighborhood. They enroll kids in structured, adult-lead activities.

This change in play-habits has actually changed children’s brains according to researchers. Imaginative play helps kids develop what is known as “executive function,” which is a cognitive skill necessary for self-regulation (controlling emotions and behavior, resisting impulses, and exercising self-control and discipline).

Read this interesting excerpt from the NPR piece:

We know that children’s capacity for self-regulation has diminished. A recent study replicated a study of self-regulation first done in the late 1940s, in which psychological researchers asked kids ages 3, 5 and 7 to do a number of exercises. One of those exercises included standing perfectly still without moving. The 3-year-olds couldn’t stand still at all, the 5-year-olds could do it for about three minutes, and the 7-year-olds could stand pretty much as long as the researchers asked. In 2001, researchers repeated this experiment. But, psychologist Elena Bodrova at the National Institute for Early Education Research says, the results were very different.

“Today’s 5-year-olds were acting at the level of 3-year-olds 60 years ago, and today’s 7-year-olds were barely approaching the level of a 5-year-old 60 years ago,” Bodrova explains. “So the results were very sad.”

According to executive function researcher, Laura Berk: “Self-regulation predicts effective development in virtually every domain.” In fact, good executive function is a more reliable predictor of success in school than IQ. Poor executive function leads to high dropout rates, drug use, and crime. Of course there must be a middle ground here, but the better a child’s ability to self-regulate, the better they will perform in school, and in life.

So here is yet another reason to turn off the TV, ignore the terrible whines, agonizing howls of boredom and claims of inhumane parental treatment and see what happens. They just might surprise you with the games they come up with on their own. And…they will be improving their executive function skills!

I urge you to listen to this fascinating NPR piece (7 min 50 sec), or at least read the online transcript.

+ Some suggestions for activities that promote self-regulation:

(from researchers Deborah Leong, professor of psychology at Metropolitan State College of Denver, Elena Bodrova, senior researcher with Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning, and Laura Berk, professor of psychology at Illinois State University, found on the transcript page of the NPR website):

- Play “Simon Says”

- Encourage “complex imaginative play” (child plans and acts out scenarios, invents own props, etc. Best if play lasts for several hours)

- Activities that require planning (the examples given are: games with directions, patterns for construction, recipes for cooking)

- Read storybooks with your children

- Encourage children to talk to themselves (“fosters concentration, effort, problem-solving, and task success”)

+ A related Unplug Your Kids post: Let Your Kids be Bored

(Photo (taken in Madagascar) courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and photographer Harald Kreutzer.)

Comments (8)

By Mom Unplugged, July 18, 2007 1:21 pm

WE SURVIVED!!! Southwest Airlines will never be the same again. No, seriously, a four hour flight with an 18 month-old (in my opinion-the absolutely worst age for travel!) is never fun, but it could have been much worse.

Yes, she screeched, shrieked, whined and only slept for half an hour out of the four hour flight…but she didn’t actually cry. I felt like I ought to have offered to buy drinks for my neighbors, or perhaps I should have passed out ear plugs. But actually, I was the one who seemed stressed and bothered the most I think.

Pilot trick: when you have a screechy kind of child that you must take on an airplane, sit as close to the engine as possible since that is the noisiest part of the plane. Screechy child=bad, lots of ambient noise to help drown it out=good.

My two oldest kids were fabulous. I would take them around the world without batting an eyelash. Even while travelling, they remain unplugged. Many people nowadays wonder how it is possible to travel with children without hauling along a stash of electronics to rival NASA. Unplugged children don’t have portable DVD players and Gameboys, but there is plenty out there to keep them occupied, and you don’t even have to worry about fresh batteries! Your fellow travellers may actually want to thank you for unplugging your children on public transportation.

Now is the time of year when many family vacations happen. So, how do you travel and keep your kids entertained, yet unplugged?

My two oldest are now 5 and 6. They each pull their own little rolling suitcase packed with their activities, as well as a favorite stuffed animal or two. Note: I supervise the packing of the suitcase, or better yet, pack it for them when they are not there. This avoids us finding a suitcase full of rocks, scraps of paper, bits of string, and other “toys” that simply could not be left behind. I always try to include a few new “surprises.”

Here are some ideas that have worked for us:

Books:
An obvious choice. Try to pack lightweight, paperback books.

Crafts:
- A French knitter (easy for ages 5-6+ to do on their own - makes yarn “snakes” that can be coiled and sewn into various projects)
- Modeling clay (I squish one stick into a plastic Easter Egg which makes a great travel container)
- Wikki Stix (strings coated with wax, like candle wicks, can be bent into many different shapes)

Art Toys:
- Travel-sized erasable drawing board (Magna Doodle for example)
- Pocket Etch-A-Sketch
- Don’t forget the plain old pad of paper and crayons.

Travel Games:
- Are We There Yet
- Haba Story Telling Tin (children make up stories based on the picture cards they choose-very creative!)
- Also look for travel-sized editions of other favorite board games, there are many out there, you just have to search for them. Beware of games with too many small pieces to lose if you have young (or unreliable) children.

Magnetic Playsets:
- Melissa & Doug Magnetic Farm Hide & Seek
- Smethport Magnetic Playboards (some examples are below, but search for “Smethport” at Amazon toys to see all the possibilities).

Toys:
Choose toys that are small, light, and don’t have a lot of pieces to get lost.
- Lacing block
- Zip-lock bag full of hotwheels cars
- Peace Ring
- Piece of string or yarn (for Cat’s Cradle)

Creative Coloring Books:
I like to find coloring books that are not your typical stay within the lines type of activity.
- The Anti-Coloring Book series is wonderful with suggestions for all kinds of imaginative possibilities.
- The Taro Gomi books are also very original but have a lot of pages so may be too big to pack easily.
- Here are also a few other suggestions for coloring books featuring abstract patterns that can be colored in many, many different ways.

Wipe Clean Board Books:
Tip: Stash away an airline cocktail napkin or two for wiping these off.

Find-It Books:
- Our favorite is the Look-Alikes series of books by Joan Steiner. These feature amazing, realistic photos in which the objects are almost always something else (sidewalks made of crackers or wheels made of buttons, etc.). Kids (and grown-ups too) enjoy looking through these books over and over as there is always something new to notice. It is also a fun activity to say to kids “I see a penny” and have them find it. You will tire of that game before they do!
- Of course there are also the well-known Where’s Waldo and I Spy books, but here are also some additional ones we like that are not so common:

Scholarly Pursuits:
Not fun for all kids, but my oldest loves this stuff!
- Workbooks
- Flash cards
- Brain Quest

Learn Some Games Yourself!:
If you are really desperate, buy a book such as Car Games: 100 Games to Avoid “Are We There Yet?”. This book offers suggestions for over 100 fun games to play in the car, airplane, or even while camping or waiting in line for example (not all games rely on spotting license plates or signs). A fun book. Parents could learn a few of these games in order to provide timely distractions at critical moments!

As for travelling by air with 18 month-olds: my best piece of advice is grit your teeth and remember that you will never see any of those people again!

I wish you all happy unplugged travels!

PS. What works for you when your kids travel? Please let me know in your comments. I am always on the lookout for new ideas!