The Growing Move Away From Screen Time

By Neenah Payne

When Steve Jobs introduction of the iPhone in 2007, it was pure magic and immediately changed our lives in myriad ways! Wired wrote in a 2018 retrospective of the first decade of the iPhone: “It’s not just the bestselling gadget ever created: It’s probably the most influential one, too.” About 2 billion iPhones have been sold since its introduction, with nearly 800 million in use around the world today – about one for every 10 people on the planet. The iPhone was soon followed by Androids. Now nearly 60% of American adults own a smartphone – up from 58% in 2014. About 61% of those reading this page are probably using a smartphone!

The cellphone has perhaps had the most powerful impact on society (both positive and negative) in the 21^st century. It puts not only a telephone in our hands but access to the internet, a zoom camera that allows us to takes amazing photos and videos and send them anywhere in the world for free instantly, along with a calculator, a clock, the weather, a GPS device, payment tools, and endlessly amazing apps that continue to expand its usefulness exponentially.

However, a growing number of people are realizing there are serious downsides to cellphones. They find they and their families are happier and smarter when they detox from cell phones and social media.

Research shows mobile phone addiction affects millions

The Light Phone

For people who want to break their cellphone addictions, the video below recommends the Light Phone which “is designed to be used as little as possible”.

How I’m Breaking My iPhone Addiction

The site says:

The Light Phone II is a premium, minimal phone. It will never have social media, clickbait news, email, an internet browser, or any other anxiety-inducing infinite feed. Light is not just another tech company. We build all of the tools from scratch to ensure there are absolutely no third party apps tracking you. In this time of ‘Surveillance Capitalism’ and the ‘Attention Economy’, the Light Phone represents a different option. You are the customer, not the product. This is a phone for humans.

Whether you need a break from your smartphone for the weekend or you’re ready to ditch it for good, the Light Phone changes how you experience your time. The phone itself is unlocked, and it’s up to you how you want to fit it into your lifestyle. Some users swap their existing SIM between their phones while others prefer a unique number for each phone. However, most of our users use the Light Phone II as their primary phone, often with a much cheaper service plan.

Available tools currently include an alarm, a timer, a calculator, directions, a simple music player, notes/voice memo, calendar and a podcasts tool. The phone also supports hotspot tethering. The value of the Light Phone is not necessarily in any specific feature, but rather the experience we call ‘going light’. In this time in which we are living through hyper-connectivity, going light is a profound shift.

Five Video Testimonials: Our users describe the hours they get back each day, and the peace of mind that comes from more intentional internet usage.

How Psychiatrist Dad Broke His Kids’ Screen Time Addiction

Dad of 7 Comes Up With a Genius Approach to Limiting Screen Time—And the Results Are Positive (TikTok video) reported on 5/27/24 that 41-year-old Richard Wadsworth is a psychiatrist who lives with his wife, five daughters, and two sons in Idaho.

@doctorwadsworth #greenscreen #parenting #parentingtips ♬ original sound – Richard Wadsworth

It says:

“His experiences with patients addicted to technology also made him look into how much time his own children were spending on screens. This prompted him to have a conversation with them about the negative effects of increased screen usage on mental health. Initially, he was met with some opposition from his kids, who range in age from 1 to 14…..

“They didn’t want to stop,” Mr. Wadsworth said. “They wanted to keep looking at screens as they enjoyed it.” …. Acknowledging that it was hard to eliminate screens from their lives, he came up with an idea to start restricting the usage of screens for certain periods and referred to it as a “screen fast.” Within just a day of implementing the fast, he noticed that his kids—except the little ones—were reading books. It was a sight that he hadn’t seen before.

Soon, the screen fasts evolved into a list of activities—such as cleaning the house, laundry, exercising, and playing outside—that the kids needed to complete before using a screen..…Since implementing these techniques to cut down screen time, he has observed a positive impact on his kids. “They were outside a lot more, they were playing with friends outside, they were doing things outside, they have a little fort that they started building in the backyard, you know, they’re all reading more often,” he said. “It was just like a happier, better week.”

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