Anti-screen time movement kicks off in Saratoga Springs
The time we spend on our screens is staggering, but a well-timed event at SPAC started an inspiring anti-online movement in Saratoga.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — Feel like screen time is all your family tunes into these days?
We all know we do it, but the numbers feel like a gut punch. For starters, the average U.S. child age 8 to 18 spends 7.5 hours a day watching or using screens.
And how about…you? This might hurt, but a local expert says getting your kids onboard with reduced online time is going to have to start with us adults.
“We all know there’s often a double standard in terms of what we do ourselves, and what we ask our kids to do, especially when it comes to screen time,” says Leah Ferrone, a Saratoga Springs-based certified mindfulness and yoga practitioner. “But the reality is, if we expect good behavior and mindfulness with screen time, we have to model it.”
Americans spend an average of seven hours, three minutes online a day — or about 18 years of their lives.
Not good news for your average American; we spend an average of seven hours, three minutes online a day — or about 18 years of our lives.
But — in Saratoga at least — there is hope.
A Cultural Shift
Just as many local parents were starting to feel uneasy about all of this screen time, a well-timed SPAC in Conversation event in October inspired change that is kicking the New Year off right.
“Many of us, especially parents, are realizing that they need to make changes, and they are not only happy to do it for their children, they want to do it for themselves too,” says Ferrone, who founded Brave Lion Wholehearted Wellness to offer neuroscience-based solutions to caretakers, children and educators. “When Julie Scelfo [a journalist who went on to found Mothers Against Media Addiction, or MAMA] came to speak at a SPAC event, it kicked off a movement in Saratoga.”
A Saratoga Springs chapter of MAMA has been formed, and organizers are reaching out to schools to come up with realistic solutions.
Ferrone says that several of the mothers organized a loose event at Walt & Whitman following the consternation and questions raised by the SPAC luncheon, with dozens showing up to mingle and discuss real solutions. Currently, a Saratoga Springs chapter of MAMA has been formed, and organizers are reaching out to schools to come up with realistic solutions.
Through Brave Lion, Ferrone has also organized several events for adults, teens and children that focus on being present, with other humans.
“Last summer I did summer socials at Pitney Meadows, where everyone checked their phone into a little hotel before going into the gathering,” Ferrone says. “We had games like tug of war, cards and yard games. People — adults and kids — just played. It was freeing for everyone.”
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This year, Brave Lion hopes to restart the popular outdoor series when the warm sun makes its glorious return. In the meantime, Brave Lion is available for formal training workshops for educators, in-school mindfulness training, and teen retreats.
“It doesn’t have to be all or nothing,” Ferrone says. “One of the most important things you can do is talk to your kids honestly about what you both see and learn online, what you like and don’t like.”
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