How to Take Your Family Through a Digital Fast

Like most parents of children born after 2010, Molly DeFrank embraced the new digital technologies of smart phones and tablets for her kids. But she grew increasingly alarmed as she observed detrimental effects of “zombified kids,” emotional outbursts, loss of other interests, etc. And she discovered alarming research that the average child spends more than 7 hours per day on a screen for entertainment purposes! As a result, Molly realized she and other parents needed to take control of the technology impact upon her children and instituted a 2-week digital fast – no phones, no tablets, no computer games, no TV, etc. Within few days, Molly’s kids were transformed and found plenty of other creative activities to explore. Molly recommends a “U-N-D-O” strategy for families — “Unplug” from digital tech, “Notice” your kids (and their interests), “Develop” screen-free alternatives, and “Open” the books (eg… rediscover the joy of reading). Molly is not anti-tech; she simply wants to equip families to put technology in its proper place as a tool for our families.

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