Last week I challenged students and staff of the Junior School to explore healthy technology options for a few days. #healthytech days was an opportunity to step away from our devices for three days. The intent was to gather experiences and reflections on the respite from technology. We all knew devices would be coming back after #healthytech days were over so it was opportunity to re-develop our relationships with technology and aim for a more balanced digital wellness.
#healthytech days began last year when I launched a campaign for Grade 7s to experience two "tech free" days. Students and teachers were challenged to keep their BYODevices at home and/or limit their school technology use. What followed were wonderful conversations and reflections around mental health, appropriate technology use, assistive technology, and how to modify our tech relationship to include more positivity and productive use.
Tech free days coincided with the PE department beginning a healthy eating/food unit with the Grade 7s which made for a natural and mutually beneficial connection. Coincidentally, I had also taught nutrition and dietary science to these students for a cooking elective the year prior!
First, we looked at Canada's Food Guide and it's emphasis on variety of foods. The plate shows approximate ratios of healthy and nutritious food and offers suggestions on nutrition, such as protein, whole grains, and plenty of vegetables or fruit.
I also challenged families to continue the experience at home and offered the Canadian Pediatric Society's Four essential 'Ms' as expert medical advice:
- healthy management
- Make and regularly review or revise a Family Media Plan including individualized time and content limits.
- Continue to be present and engaged when screens are used and, whenever possible, co-view and talk about content with children and teens.
- Discourage media multitasking, especially during homework.
- Learn about parental controls and privacy settings.
- Obtain their child’s or teen’s passwords and login information for devices and social media accounts, to help ensure safety online and to follow
- online profiles and activities if concerns arise.
- Speak proactively with children and teens about acceptable and unacceptable online behaviours.
- meaningful screen use
- Prioritize daily routines, such as interacting face-to-face, sleep, and physical activity over screen use.
- Prioritize screen activities that are educational, active, or social over those that are passive or unsocial.
- Help children and teens to choose developmentally appropriate content and to recognize problematic content or behaviours.
- Be a part of their children’s media lives. For example, join in during video game play and ask about their experiences and encounters online.
- Advocate for schools, child care centres and after-school programs to consider developing their own plan for digital literacy and screen use.
- positive modelling
- Encourage parents to review their own media habits, plan time for alternative hobbies, outdoor play and activities.
- Remind parents and adolescents of the dangers of texting or using headphones while driving, walking, jogging, or biking.
- Encourage daily “screen-free” times, especially for family meals and socializing.
- Ask whether screens are “off” when not in use, including background TVs.
- Remind parents and teens to avoid screens at least 1 hour before bedtime and discourage recreational screen use in bedrooms.
- balanced, informed monitoring of screen time and behaviours.
- Complaints about being bored or unhappy without access to technology.
- Oppositional behaviour in response to screen time limits.
- Screen use that interferes with sleep, school or face-to-face interactions.
- Screen time that interferes with offline play, physical activities or socializing face-to-face.
- Negative emotions following online interactions or video games or while texting .
