Community Magazine April 2013
RACHEL DAYAN (shõ•trä) n . An outstanding homemaker [Arabic] Shaatra Does It Tech Talk The kids are driving you crazy. So you grab a pacifier, plug it in the baby’s mouth, and then you plug in the kids. This one gets a Nintendo, that one a Wii, one a DVD, the other a computer. Ah, blessed peace and quiet. Electronic games are convenient, entertaining and sanity saving, no doubt about it. In fact, because they are such effective babysitters, your kids will give you no trouble as long as they are hooked up, unless the device malfunctions or they argue over whose turn it is. So it becomes easy to let them play for hours and hours on end. But at what cost? Once you know what you’re dealing with, get ready to armor up – it’s time to battle the tech monster. Any Time’s a Good Time While electronic entertainment should be okay for the occasional rainy day, it usually creeps into every day, rain or shine, school nights and vacation days. It may seem innocuous, but add up the hours, one or two a day, maybe more on the weekends, and consider what they missed out while they were disconnected from reality. Maybe they missed a basketball game by the neighbor, or an opportunity to help get the house ready for Shabbat. Perhaps your child was late for the bus several days, and ran out without breakfast, or without making his bed. Was his homework scribbled and incorrect, but with his assurance that it was “done,” you let him grab his favorite game? When you start to pay attention to the things they neglected to do, or lost out on because of electronics, it’s easy to see where things go wrong. “But what about those long boring days?” they argue. “Why can’t we play on a cold, dreary day?” The answer: Because those are the days when they lose out on other, more important things, like learning how to entertain themselves, and improving their social skills by interacting with others. How about improving their literary skills by picking up a book, playing scrabble, or writing a card to Grandma in Florida? Or maybe you can use a hand or two, but every hand seems to be clicking and tapping, or you hear “Ma, I’m at the end of level 6 and I have one more life…” Educate them for Life Educators are rightly concerned about the impact that technology has on students. No amount of preparing or creativity can make learning as wildly exciting and enthralling as their usual entertainment. As a result, kids today are having a harder time focusing when they aren’t being dazzled with flashing images and drumbeats. That’s one good reason to set limits, besides for the sheer amount of time that electronic entertainment ends up taking from their studying and homework. Just One More! It’s not just kids. Ask any adult – once you’re hooked on a game, you always want to score better, or figure out how to get past that tricky level. Before you know it, you just wasted time you didn’t have playing a silly game. And maybe it’s not just games. It can be breaking news stories, this week’s weather report, instagram, twitter, or texts that keep coming in. Adults can get quite engrossed in their electronics, too, and neglect their responsibilities or ignore the people around them. Dinner tables become a forum to check emails and find out what your friends are doing, while conversations around the table keep getting interrupted or ignored. Not too long ago, give or take a dozen years, nobody did that because, that’s right, we survived just fine without our cell phones. If you want to be a good role model for your children (who fall into two categories: those who have cell phones, and those who don’t have them YET), then show by example that you can keep your phone tucked away or turned off when necessary. The Days are Long Your kids might convince you that they can’t live without their favorite technology, whether it’s the iPhone or the Wii. But just because you choose to include it as a part of your life doesn’t mean you have to let it take control, and be allowed anytime or any place. That means setting firm limits on what hours of which days they can plug in, and which places (like the dinner table) are sacrosanct. If the weather is nice, push them outdoors. If you choose to allow game time on school nights, it should be after all their responsibilities are done, and should be shut off in time to get to bed at a healthy hour. It’s not easy to unplug your kids. There will be complaints of boredom, and more nagging, fighting or wildness, but whatever you lose, the long-term benefit will surely be worthwhile. Send in your tips for the next edition HEALTH AND FITNESS mobile: Scan the QR code at right online: go.CommunityM. com/ask email: Ask@CommunityM. com facsimile: 718-504-4246 postal mail: 1616 Ocean Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11223 READER TIPS W hen I was growing up, we were never allowed to say we were bored. Finding ways to entertain ourselves, whether it was baking, reading, making clubhouses or playing freeze tag with the neighbors, was a skill we had to learn. I intend to make sure my kids do, as well. S. Dwec I set limits on tech time before I buy any new devices. My kids know right off that if they don’t stick to the rules, they lose game or computer privileges. B c C. M y daughter was begging me for a phone – ALL her friends have one. We worked out a compromise for this 24-hour toy: never during school, and she has to give it to me at 10:30pm. And if her grades go down, privileges are reduced. F. E es 74 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE
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