Screen-Free Sabbath

Week 3 of my wife and my Screen-Free Sabbath. Feels pretty good. After the first week it feels like a relief.  I’m reading more books – paper and not Kindle. Turned off my e-mail and social media notifications. They were all still there at sundown Saturday. No emergencies. Sitting still more often – some alone, some with my wife.  Got my recumbent trike out, tuned up and rode it. Had to buy some paper Sudoku books. It affects my week as well. I’m looking at the phone less often, meditating more. Still using the iPhone for texts and phone calls-have only received a few. Using it when playing my sax: playing my recorded rehearsals, metronome, etc. Sitting on the bus or subway more often looking at people and not the screen. Noticing the blue sky and spring colors. My grandson freaked out: Will I have to do it too? All week? OMG. He’s relieved that it’s just Grandma and Opa and not him, unless he’s at our flat sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.  I’ve spoken to several parents who have 5-7p screen-free every day, others do a 24-hour period as we do.

Feels like this is a magic lever of best health.

From Facebook: A 4th grader’s perspective on screen time:

I am against kids having too much screen time

I wonder what makes tech so appealing

I hear beeps and blinks from a million iPads

I see parents neglecting their kids, telling them to watch TV.

I want people to socialize more, face to face, not through Facebook or Instagram

I am a rebel against your X-box and Wii.

I dream of children just going outside to play.

I feel that you should shut your laptop for just a little while.

I touch the minds of children zoned out through Madden Mobile, Halo, Minecraft, and YouTube.

I say that turning up your ear buds is tuning out your world.

I help kids see that a book page is better than a Kindle screen.

I am fighting toys and games against your device.

From <http://www.screenfree.org/a-fourth-graders-perspective-on-screen-time/>