5@8 Screen-Free Challenge

A week ago, I did what many of you probably did: I watched Bye (in French), Alexandre Taillefer's deeply moving and timely documentary about youth mental health and cyberaddiction. I was extremely shaken; it was hard not to be. As a mother of 5 young children and an education professional, I felt my emotions tumbling over one another. I should say that under our roof, conversations about screens, tablets and phones come up often. Ours is a couple made up of a CEGEP literature teacher with no Facebook account or cell phone, and an educator in business who runs an online shop and uses social media to promote it. Young children are always around us, and they love using tablets to entertain themselves, play games or watch videos. The same questions keep coming up: what place should we give these electronic gadgets? Is it appropriate? Are we stimulating our children enough? And the most important question, in my opinion: are we good role models for our children? Do they see us using these devices too often (for good reasons and not-so-good ones)? Every time, I tell myself that if it's happening at our house, it's surely happening in most families. We live in the same era in the same society, so we're bound to face similar situations. UNPLUG TO CONNECT BETTER? People often say childhood goes by too fast. That we didn't see the last few years go by, that we didn't see our children grow up. Are we truly with them when we spend time together during the famous 5 to 8, those three short hours (or even just two for some) when everyone is home? Technology creeps insidiously into our lives. That little notification ping during our son's bath telling us someone liked a photo we posted, that work email received in the evening that couldn't wait until tomorrow and preoccupies us during homework time, that funny text from a friend that interrupts our child just as they're showing us their latest drawing, and so on. In short, all those distractions that too often “disconnect” us from our children and from family life. Alexandre Taillefer's work is exceptional, in my opinion. This widely publicized documentary will broaden the debate among the general public and raise awareness. As a mother and an education professional, I want to support Mr. Taillefer by tackling this issue a little further upstream, that is, from earliest childhood. Of course, it's important to address the mental health problems of these teens who have become cyber-addicted. Mr. Taillefer even challenged Minister Barrette on this issue. But let's not forget that education is an incredible weapon against health problems. It's time to realize that the family and the school must take their rightful place in preventing this problem. One of the findings I find most worrying in this documentary is that young people no longer communicate the way they used to. Face-to-face conversations have given way to texting and “chat,” which are far less engaging. This is, incidentally, the reason, we learn in the documentary, that Youhou was created, a “2.0” version of the Tel-jeunes helpline that better suits today's youth. This wonderful initiative, which many volunteers worked very hard on, will surely allow many young teens to be heard in a completely confidential way, in a language that speaks to them. That said, as parents of young children, let's be aware that it's important to develop our little ones' social skills, and that a pat on the back, a hug, an understanding tone of voice and a few minutes spent listening can sometimes be more beneficial than emoticons. As parents, it's essential to talk with our children to help them develop good social skills. Let's build the habit of having moments of exchange with them away from screens, tablets, phones and even the TV. Let's give them a taste for conversation and, above all, try to find their areas of interest (science, sports, music, reading, mechanics, drawing, etc.). That way, our kids will have a better chance of developing a healthy, balanced relationship with the screens that are now part of our lives. THE 5@8 SCREEN-FREE CHALLENGE Les Belles Combines is launching the 5 @ 8 Screen-Free Challenge. Chat and play; discuss and draw; chit-chat and cook; chatter and craft… enjoy these screen-free moments with your children and live real life! Do it for your child! Let's unplug so we can connect better with our little ones, and give ourselves the time to get to know them. Their dreams, their ideas, their precious naïveté, their passions. They're right there, admiring us, and all they ask is to know us better. To take part in the 5@8 SCREEN-FREE CHALLENGE, head to our Facebook page and encourage your parent friends to do the same. This small gesture has the potential to help us, as a society, help our brood grow up with values and behaviors that will make them teens and adults fully aware of the benefits and dangers of screens. It's all about balance.