Springtime is knocking at our door, the weather is getting nice and our desire to enjoy the great outdoors is at its height. There’s just one catch…your kids just want to play video games or “talk” to their friends on Snapchat. Hmmm…that may be a problem. Maybe it’s time to rethink the way that your family interacts with tech. Here are some practical tips to help you out!

A good start in this process is learning to recognize the signs of digital media overload. Signs can include lack of energy, feeling frazzled, forgetfulness or having difficulty converting information into long term memory, feeling overwhelmed and stressed, emotional sensitivity, being easily frustrated and impatient, reactive behavior, inability to concentrate and easily distracted, little interest in anything unrelated to tech, feeling disconnected from important people, and feeling obligated to consume, respond, react or check-in. Keeping a journal to track your child's media consumption and their moods and behaviors is helpful in this process. Write down the amount and type of media consumed daily and the occurrence of any of the signs of media overload, as well as anything else that you feel is significant. Try to do this at least an entire week to get a good picture of what your family’s digital consumption looks like.​

Remember that you, the parent or guardian, are setting the example. It might be a good idea to look at your digital habits before you meet with your family to discuss theirs. Are you spending too much time on Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat? Maybe binge watching an entire season of your favorite show isn’t the best use of your time. Look at changes you can make to your own relationship with digital media first.
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Next, meet with your family to discuss their media usage. The time that you spend doing this will vary depending on the age of your children. You will have a lot more to discuss with teenagers vs with 5 year olds. Make sure that you have your digital media consumption journal with you so you can share the information that you gathered. Start by explaining that you would like to spend more time outdoors as a family without phones, video games, YouTube, etc. Discuss with your family how they feel after an afternoon of playing Fortnight or Mario Kart. Do they feel good? Do they think they could feel better doing something else? Try to set realistic goals for how they spend their time on electronics. Ask the kids what they think a reasonable amount of their free time should be used for digital media. Again this is going to differ with teenagers vs younger children. You might be surprised that they agree with you!​

Create a digital media agreement, delineate time that phones, games, etc will not be in use. For example, no digital media during mealtimes, and at least 30 minutes before bedtime. Discuss video games and a reasonable amount of time that they can be played…perhaps after homework and chores are finished. Decide which outdoor activities the family would like to do to take the place of digital media usage. Create your agreement, make sure it is typed or written, and post it in a highly visible location. This likely won’t be the last time that the agreement is discussed, be willing to revisit and make changes to the document. You may also want to develop a parking area for your electronics at home, to ensure that phones are parked before bedtime and not being used during the night when kids should be sleeping.​

When I was young we often begged to spend the night with my grandma, especially in the summertime. What did we do while we were there? First Grandma would work for a while in her garden, hoeing out weeds or picking strawberries…so we helped her or played nearby picking dandelions and sending their seeds flying with a puff or our breath or rolling down the hill. Then we might eat some supper, usually something simple, then we usually concluded our evening by sitting on the front porch watching bats flutter around catching insects and discussing what was going on in our lives. It was so simple, yet such a special time and memory. Spending time with your family outdoors doesn’t have to be extravagant or complicated. It may be just relaxing around a fire or eating a cookie after supper on the front porch. After setting some ground rules for your digital detox, be intentional about spending some of the time that used to be devoted to digital media to family adventures outdoors. Be intentional about being together and developing stronger family connections through these activities. Again, involve the entire family as you are planning. Ideas for family adventures include:

It might not be easy to get your whole family on board for making these changes. You may need to gradually decrease digital media usage and replace it with outdoor activities. Be a good listener and take to heart what your kids have to say about why they need certain apps and time on their phones.
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Remember the journal? Don’t stop using it…try to get it out once a month or so and track your family's digital usage. Are those minutes or hours of digital media usage creeping back up or are they going down? Reflect on changes in family dynamics, are your kids getting along with each other better, are they getting better sleep, do they seem more rested? Meet with your family again and discuss the changes they have made and the benefits that they see from the changes. Regularly revisit and reassess your digital habits.

Have an awards night outdoors, create some fun certificates or awards for your family members. Examples could be: Most Creative Outdoor Hobby, Most Hours Spent Outdoors, or Friend of the Animals Award. Older kids could do outdoor work for family, friends, and neighbors and use the money they earn to pay for a daytrip to an amusement or adventure type park.

In this time of increasing ease of access to digital media, it is so easy to consume, consume, consume and lose the connection to those around us. It’s imperative that we embrace a healthier, more connected family life. By doing so we can encourage other families to embark on their own digital detox journey, and by spending more time outdoors we forge a connection to the land for our children which they will hopefully carry to future generations! Let’s unplug, step outside, and reconnect!