2 Good Things for 2018 by T.R. McClure

The beginning of a new year and our thoughts turn to ways we want to change or improve our lives. In the last few months two things have caught my attention. Two good things.

As smart everything - phones, appliances, cars - become part of our everyday lives we can't help but consider the impact of the use of these digital devices. Parents - and children - engrossed in phones at the dinner table. Not talking. Pedestrians walking down the street completely unaware of their surroundings.

"We should have a day that no one uses technology," I mentioned to my daughter recently. Turns out, of course, the day already exists.

The 2018 National Day of Unplugging is from sundown on March 9 to sundown on March 10. The ninth year of a global respite from technology, the day is not a partisan issue and is supported by a variety of organizations.

https://www.nationaldayofunplugging.com

If you take the above pledge you'll get a free cell phone sleeping bag. Who wouldn't want a free cell phone sleeping bag?

Personally, I was thinking of a day in July when we could all go outside and play and relax in the sunshine. It's still cold in PA in March! But why reinvent the wheel? Who knows? Maybe we can unplug for two days next year! Crazier things have happened, right?

While you're unplugged how about checking out our Heartwarming line? Now that was a shameless plug, wasn't it?

Another effort that attracted my attention is Wait Until 8th. I'm a brand new grandma. Funny how your thoughts revert to children's issues when you have a little one back in your life.

Wait Until 8th suggests waiting until eighth grade to give children smartphones to allow kids to be kids a little while longer. Some studies have shown smartphones actually have addictive properties. That's frightening! If parents rally together, they can avoid the inevitable question "Fill in the blank has a smartphone, why can't I?"

Parents concerned about the need for communication and safety can still provide a basic phone that texts and makes calls but without the additional smartphone features. Again, this is a nonpartisan effort and is supported by psychologists as well as professionals in the tech industry.

https://waituntil8th.org

Just a couple things to think about for 2018!
As always, enjoy the read!

T.R. www.trmcclure.com




Comments

  1. I didn't know there was an unplugged day. Love it! Aren't you glad we didn't grow up in the age of smart phones? It makes me crazy to watch all the people ignoring the ones around them because they are on their phone. My own children didn't get a cell phone until they started driving. Of course, with safety issues today, I would probably be tempted too give them one earlier but definitely not a smart phone!

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  2. My daughter got one in grade 9 when her school was twenty miles away and we had to coordinate rides. Strangely, she drives both parents and friends nuts by living an unplugged life. She constantly forgets to charge, take, answer or send messages on it. Half the time she's not a clue where it is!

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  3. I love the idea of a day of unplugged, but admit I'd probably get kind of itchy before it was over. Some of my grandkids are like your daughter, Moira--I love it!

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  4. I read your post and realized how addicted to technology I am because the thought of not using my phone or computer for a mere 24 hours gave me a case of the hives. Perhaps if I worked up to it the week before, going for maybe a few hours each day. Kind of training for the day, like athletes do :)

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  5. A day without my smartphone -- easy. I forget to charge or check it half the time anyway. A day without internet -- not so easy. When it was down for 3 days, I was not happy.

    I had a conversation with my kids about how people got together with friends before cell phones. I said you planned to meet at 7 at the restaurant, and you did. My daughter says she wishes it were still that way, so people couldn't text ten minutes before the meeting and cancel. Mixed blessings.

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  6. But my phone isn't just my phone, though that's an important part since we don't have a land line. If anything happened to my father (in poor health) or my son away at school, it's the only way I'd know. But also, it's my watch, since I never wear one now. It's how I deposit cheques (from my day job where I get a lot of small ones, not, sadly from writing). It's a compass and map, when I need to know where I'm going. It's music, it's books, it's how I get a ride (Uber). Even on our boat, on vacation, it's how we safely navigate.
    I don't use it at the table, normally, and I can sometimes set it aside for hours, but once, on the boat, I ignored it and was told off soundly by my son who'd been trying to reach me for three hours. I think, if we want to be less technologically dependent, we have to radically change our lives. But I for one am not going to go back to manual accounting!

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  7. I could do an unplugged day or two in the year. I'm resisting doing all of the things on my phone that I know other people do. I use it for calls and texting. Still have my landline, but no one else in my family does. Our city just instituted no texting or being on phone while driving. Very late in happening for us.

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  8. Interesting comments. Like Kim said, the phone has of variety of uses. Maybe the emphasis should be on whether we allow the phone to take precedence over interactions with people.

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