By Jessica Wallace
Kamloops This Week
Fiona Clare knows it’s not easy cutting down on screen time in this day and age. But combatting that “addiction,” the outreach co-ordinator with Literacy in Kamloops (LInk) said, is easier with a bit of distraction.
“It’s not to say, ‘turn it off’ and not offer an alternative,” Clare said.
Interior Savings Unplug and Play Family Literacy Week begins on Saturday and runs through Jan. 28, offering people of all ages the opportunity to turn off the television, tablet, video console — whichever the technology of choice — to share in learning.
The week showcases activities around national Family Literacy Day on Jan. 27.
Clare said the goal isn’t to completely shut off technology, but instead, to balance screen and family time. She said technology is “part of our lives.”
“It’s not anti-technology,” she said. “It’s finding healthy balance.”
That takes effort on behalf of parents, Clare said, but family activities can vary from something active, like strapping on blades and participating in a public skate, to something as basic as putting down the phone while eating dinner together.
“That’s often a really good time for family conversation,” Clare said.
This year, more than 5,500 students across SD73 are challenging themselves to reduce recreational screen time. Asked for advice for parents struggling to pull kids away from screens, Clare said establishing habits early is important.
“When kids are young, it’s easier to have some guidelines in place,” she said.
Beyond prohibiting phones during mealtimes, she recommends limiting screen time to one hour a day and putting phones in a designated location in the house to charge, so they’re not going into bedrooms to be used for an indeterminate amount of time.
“There’s so much research happening about the effects of screen time on child development,” Clare said. “It’s not just on development, it’s about family relationships.”
She said kids and adults alike who unplug report more laughter and conversation, and improved social emotional health.
“When they do, they actually have so much fun,” Clare said. “That’s always the feedback we get.”