Many people say they want to be in charge of their life, but then they turn their evening schedules over to their tv sets... Stephen Covey
We don't have a TV, so for sure we are not ruled by it, but what I have noticed is that often our computers have become substitutes for the TV. In some ways I would even say that this is more problematic than the TV - when we all sat down together and watched the same thing and talked about it together. Now I've noticed that we're often all engaged with our computers - on 3 totally different things - and we don't talk about what we are doing at all!
I was passed on this article during the week by a friend - it's about a mum who banned electronic devices in a 6 month experiment. It seems a bit of a drastic step to take, unplugging the whole family for 6 months, but it seems there were benefits too. This Christmas our son was back with us from university and I loved the way we spent our evenings playing games: backgammon, rummikub and cards - and not just plugged into our computers working. Of course it's easy to do that during the holidays when you don't have to plan for a full day of school the following day, but I certainly think it's something we need to work on doing a little more of in the future.
Photo Credit: Traveling without moving by Frederic Poirot
Our family has never had a TV...but you know what? You have a great point about the computer taking its place. Thank you for this food for thought. I need it right now, especially as my blog is a big part of my work. Balance. A.
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