Tag: digital-detox

Is Your Screen-time Diet a Pacifier?

The same parent that tries to discourage a child’s thumb or pacifier later hands their youngster a digital babysitter to keep the kid pacified or occupied. Yet, recent surveys show that 70% of America adults have concerns over how technology is affecting their own mental health, including their personal relationships. Other research finds that the average U.S. adult spends 70% less time with friends than they did two decades ago.                                                   

Nearly half of Americans report cutting back on screen time; 67% cut out digital cookies. Were these your New Year’s resolutions? 62% of American adults admit to digital-device addiction. What will this percentage be when today’s addicted-to-gadget toddlers reach adulthood?

American Academy of Pediatrics well-being guidelines for technology usage are not being followed from my observation of many children today:

  • Under 18 months – Zero screen time, unless video communication is with family and/or friends;
  • 18-24 months – May begin screen time co-viewing with a parent or caregiver;
  • 2-5 years — No more than 1 hour per day, limited to educational programming;
  • 6+ years – Limit screen time by setting limits and boundaries (using parental controls); avoid using screens as a pacifier or babysitter.

How difficult is it to turn off all screens during family meals and outings? Parents are role models in the usage of technology for their families. Do you use a digital device while you eat? I am always amazed when I see a couple in a restaurant, sitting across from one another, both ensconced on cell phones for long periods of time. I wonder why they are not relating to each other in the present moment. In addition to the practical uses of our cell phones, The Smartphone as a Pacifying Technology (in Journal of Consumer Research) outlines these emotional benefits: “feelings of psychological comfort and actual stress relief.”

There are many possibilities for stress relief. What hobbies have you pushed to the back shelf of your mind? Is it time to develop a new interest in your life?

Whether cell phone usage becomes addictive is an individual assessment. Psychotherapist Peter Levine defines addiction: “Addiction is people needing some way to blunt their pain, attempt to regulate; until people find an alternative, they will continue [their] addiction.” Perhaps we need the AMA (American Medical Association) to write a prescription for adult screen time.

Do you need a digital detox recipe? Here are some possibilities:

  • Make a “grocery” list of replacement ingredients to the pacifier of screen time.
  • Stir face-to-face social bonding into your week.                              
  • Blend mindfulness into your daily activities.  

If you choose to detox from too much screen time, you avoid a diet of information overload. Side-dish benefits include better sleep, better concentration, better physical and mental health, better creativity, and better relating with others. Who does not wish for things to be “better”?

Bake your cookies. 

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

363. Have you ever considered whether you are addicted to screen time?

364. What possibilities do you have to redeem your personal time, starting TODAY?  

Compassion: The Peace Within

Inuit, Unknown carver, Art Institute of Chicago

Tania Israel, Professor of Counseling Psychology at University of California (Santa Barbara) is  author of the 2024 book, Facing the Fracture: How to Navigate the Challenges of Living in a Divided Nation. Rather than focusing on differences between voters, Israel takes a compassionate (and researched) approach: “We have more in common than we realize.”

  • There is a tendency to overestimate the distance between our viewpoints; two-thirds of Americans do not belong to either extreme of the political continuum. While voters may disagree on whether there is environmental climate change, many who voted for different candidates are exhausted by the divisiveness of today’s political climate.
  • Most Americans share core values, such as service, patriotism, and bipartisanship.
  • There are over 500 organizations that are working in earnest in the bridging movement to bring people together in the Listen First Project, a global nonpartisan nonprofit that was founded in 2013. The goal is to strengthen social cohesion and democratic principles.
  • Listen First conversations happen by following these 3 tips: 1) Listen with curiosity. 2) Speak from your own experience. 3) Connect with respect.
  • Our actions can change our beliefs. Look for unifying causes. Check out these brief You Tube clips: https://www.youtube.com/@ListenfirstprojectOrg/videos
  • Despite social media outlets that foster conflict, 53% of Americans across political lines report changing their social media diet in favor of more constructive choices.

Researchers are working on ways to reduce division. In a large study of online interventions, 23 of 25 reduced partisan animosity. Reducing support for undemocratic practices and partisan violence were intervention goals. Correcting misperceptions about “the other side” was one useful approach. Most individuals were found to value resilient and safe communities where healthy families can thrive.

Social psychologist Peter T. Coleman, Professor of Psychology and Education, Teachers College at Columbia University, initiated the Polarization Detox Challenge – a 20-day skill-building online experience designed to shape new habits for political tolerance and compassion. His ongoing research is one that you can join: https://startswith.us/pdc/exercises/

The Polarization Detox Challenge takes as little as 5 minutes a day. This is not an assignment! No one grades you. Dropping out is an option. Day One of The Detox Challenge is finding out (via a quick survey with results immediately) how much you believe in change. No surprise, I believe in people’s capacity for change!

“Research on more intractable conflicts has found that… when people believe that groups and situations are mutable and sometimes can change, they are much more likely to work to do so. Making this simple shift in mindset helps make it conceivable to see and realize possible solutions to problems where others see inevitable dead ends. The consequences of this simple difference have been shown by decades of research to be profound.”

Hanging on to a fixed mindset halts evolving problem-solving. Let’s correct any misperceptions with facts while embracing values that we hold in common. 

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

343. What are your thoughts about people who voted opposite from you?

344. How might you dialogue together?