The article was in the Monday, Jan. 31 Vancouver edition of the Metro newspaper, but I could not find the text anywhere online the next day, including on their site at http://www.metronews.ca. The">http://www.metronews.ca]http://www.metronews.ca[/url]. The author also had a debate about a related issue on Fox news, with a brief article about that in Three">http://thatsovietguy.com/three-hours-or-30-minutes-whats-the-right-daily... Hours Or 30 Minutes, What's The Right Daily Dose Of Gaming For Kids?, and a video of it in http://video.foxnews.com/...">http://video.foxnews.com/#/v/4523007/life-online-or-unplugged-technology....
The newspaper article said:
Quote:Susan Maushart lived out every parent's fantasy: She unplugged her teenagers.
For six months she took away the Internet, TV, iPods, cellphones and video games. ...
The result of what she grandly calls "The Experiment" was more OMG than LOL - and nothing less than an immersion in RL (real life).
As Maushart explains in a book released in the U.S. this week called The Winter of Our Disconnect, she and her kids rediscovered small pleasures - like board games, books, lazy Sundays, old photos, family meals and listening to music together instead of everyone plugging into their own iPods.
Her son Bill, a video game and TV addict, filled his newfound spare time playing saxophone.
"He swapped Grand Theft Auto for the Charlie Parker songbook," Maushard wrote. Bill says The Experiment was merely a "trigger," and he would have found his way back to music eventually. Either way, he got so serious playing sax that when the gadget ban ended, he sold his game console and is now studying music in college.
...
But the electronic deprivation had an impact anyway: Sussy's grades improved substantially. Maushart wrote that her kids "awoke slowly from the state of cognitus interruptus that had characterized many of their waking hours to become more focused logical thinkers."
Maushard decided to unplug the family because the kids - ages 14, 15 and 18 when she started the Experiment - didn't just "use media," as she put it. They "inhabited" media. "They don't remember a time before email, or instant messaging, or Google," she wrote.
The effects of our high-tech society, especially on children, is very controversial. The results of this family's "The Experiment" is interesting but, as just one example, does not really prove anything one way or another. I am also a bit disappointed in how loosely they use the term "addict" for the son, Bill. If he were a true addict, I doubt that he would be able to give up gaming so apparently relatively easily, although I don't doubt that he was excessively playing games and watching TV. Nonetheless, this article does at least show that there is a potential for a lot of improvement in children after a significant period of time being "unplugged".
- John O.
[em]Carpe Diem![/em] (Seize the Day!)
if the kids don't find a way to drive their parents crazy first....
leveling in steps, serenity, sponcys, sponsors, exercise, and sleep, (sanity has been downsized) sober from all electronic games since 11/19/2010
I know that i've grown up with a cell phone right next to me all the time & honestly i feel like something is missing when i don't have my cell phone on me and i probably would have gotten a job and paid my own cell phone bill just so i could have it. I think kids these days revolve around it like i did . They need to realize what else is out thereat some point. that is why i love "the experiment"
"awoke slowly from the state of cognitus interruptus that had characterized many of their waking hours to become more focused logical thinkers."
Lol, :)
The question is, if she planned this experience, it's because she was displeased about the contact with her children or the behaviour of the children. She blaimed the media (phone, tv, etc.) for that. She cant be (not even a bit) objective. She probably has influence on those kids.
It's like every time you go threw something tough, afterwards you tell yourself: this has been for the better. It's the way cults brainwash, the army trains, etc. Oh and older ppl always blaim the new media.
Im not saying that there is no trueth in it. I do think media have made us lose concentration, that we dont train our memory anymore because we can easily look everything up, that social contact has become more superficial because there is always an easy (and less involving) way to contact ppl. (for a big group of ppl there is at least)
But with her 'method', she could just have well tried to proof that eating 8 pieces of dry bread in the morning is great for kids.
She certainly suffering from the Sarah Palin syndrom :P
Just started "the experiment" and unplugged my 15 year old from everything. No texting, no internet, no gaming - nothing. My son was dead inside - he used to be curious, inquisitive - musical, humourous - yet went down a long dark path into isolation & depression. I told him it is time to awake to the world that is around us. As a parent, I feel the weight of a huge burden lifted off of me. It took me awhile to see and accept what was really going on, and now that I have acknowledged it and taken a stand I feel less stress and despair already. This site helped me take the dramatic steps to bring my son back. Thank you.
NewDay,
I hope that your 15 year old regains an interest in life. I had similar issues with my son when he was that age. Unfortunately at the time I was heavily involved in my addictions, so not surprisingly my response was not the best.
He is now 23, and is on a better path. I have found what works best for me is to be a role model, and let him experience the consequences of his actions. Being in recovery, at times imperfectly, was the key for me to be a better parent.