Screen Free Week?

Screen Free Week began in the mid-1990’s as TV Turn-off Week. At a time when people were spending countless hours of their free time relaxing in front of the TV, no one perceived the ‘habit’ in any negative way. Enter Henry Labalme and Matt Pawa who were truly “thinking outside the TV-box” to suggest there may be a downside to all this TV watching. In another part of the Screen World and at about the same time, Clay Shirky, a professor in the early part of his career, observed that screen time was actually becoming something new as widespread access to the Internet added new concepts to the idea of media screen time.

His landmark work, Cognitive Surplus highlights some of the amazing things people were doing with their screen time. The book begins by explaining that societies evolve and free time seemed to be one of the byproducts after the industrial revolution. While turn-of-the-century Brits drank too much gin in their leisure time, Americans in the ‘60s and ‘70s probably watched too much Partridge Family or All in (Archie Bunker’s) Family. Today, it’s too much time on Facebook. In each time period, Shirky argues that the world around us largely influences the preferred way to kick back and relax, but the consequences of those choices are never fully appreciated at the time they’re being made. He goes on to look more deeply at our post-Internet use of screen time with a careful analysis of the good and not-so-good ways we spend time in virtual connections.

I like Clay Shirky, and I know I’d really like the folks from Screen Free Week and Campaign For A Commercial Free Childhood if we ever met. I like FaceBook, Twitter and Common Sense Media.org, too. Dr. Who, the guys at Mythbusters and my Food Network friends are all part of relaxation down time in our house, but together… we all have to find a family balance. This is where it gets tough. Screen Free Week is really about self-discipline. It’s about knowing how much is too much, and saying “I’m unplugging” before we get to that place.

Twenty years ago, when we turned off the TV for a whole week, it opened up hours of possibility. Today, to turn off all our screens doesn’t accomplish the same thing, and probably misses the point altogether. The reality is that screens are not just a mindless time-waster (although they certainly can be);they are also a great way to share ideas and to connect. Talking to school friends on Facebook is not an unreasonable way to kick back after the AP Exams. Up 'til midnight gossiping is foolish. Helping to improve Wikipedia or writing a blog are great uses of free time. Surfing the net for hours is dumb. Balanced Screens Week is about reminding the everybody that we need to look up from our screens more often than we do.

Life is happening in real time, and I don’t want to miss it. I loved this reminder that came from a parent by way of the practice FaceBook Page.  Like us there, but in honor of Screen Free Week, love us in real life!  We love connecting in both places.

Digitally yours,

Gayle Schrier Smith, MD and her Partners In Pediatrics