Have you taken the #DeviceFreeDinner challenge yet? Common Sense recently launched this national campaign to encourage families to set aside time to connect without tech. Last week, #DeviceFreeDinner was featured on the TODAYshow to highlight the importance of device-free dinner as a healthy choice. In case you missed it, you can click here to watch the segment.
Common Sense Media promotes technology use for learning, fun, and bringing people together, but we also see a need to balance media and tech with undistracted face-to-face time. Parents spend 9+ hours with media and technology every day, and so do their kids. Dinnertime doesn't need to be one of those hours. Research provides plenty of support for the importance of family dinner for kids: Learning vocabulary, fewer behavior problems, less substance abuse, and healthier eating are some of the positive outcomes.
So, when you have a family dinner, commit to putting devices away for those 30 minutes (or, if you have small children, the six minutes of dinner!). Turn your devices on silent. Better yet, put them somewhere where you can't see them and where a notification won't tempt you to check it. Enjoy a device-free dinner as part of a healthy digital lifestyle, and make the most of family time.