Networked Families

Although we were only tasked with reading one of the chapters in section 2, I read the chapters about networked relationships and networked families. I was interested in seeing how the behaviors overlapped. In the Networked families chapter they shared that North American families have dinner together more. In my mother’s house and in my father’s house, we always ate dinner together. However, as cell phones developed and we all had individual phones, my Dad noticed that we were glued to our phones when we were supposed to be using dinner time to bond and spend time together. So then came the rule: no electronics at the table. No cell phones, iPads, laptops – nothing. The purpose of that was to ensure that we were intentional about our time together.

We often see and hear about children (and adults) who are constantly glued to their phones. We have moments when we're all together and simply enforce a no-phone policy. We also try to let the children in our family choose the games or activities that we're going to do as a family - hoping to attract their interest. I'm curious about how you all encourage your family members to spend time together without electronics.

Comments

  1. Nancy NLes.May 28, 2023 at 8:21 PM

    I think we constantly hear about children and young adults being glued to their phones but forget that adults do this as well. I am glad you mentioned this in your post. I didn't realize how bad my mom was addicted to social media and her phone until she came to visit and stay for about a week. She just recently got into K-Drama and is always looking at TikTok videos showing clips and such. It's crazy that at one point I was getting frustrated with my younger siblings being on their phones and now I have to tell my mom to get off her phone!

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