“You can feel the fall on the air. This is a great opportunity to say, hey, what is our family going to do different?”
Mark Ostach is author of “The Gift of Connection: Reclaiming the Power of Presence in the Age of Distraction.”
“How are we going to cultivate new rhythms and new routines that double down on our ability to be present with one another?”
Ostach says the answer isn’t getting rid of technology, its finding an appropriate place in family life, with parents modeling behaviors.
“If your kid walks in the door from school and you're on your phone and they're just wanting to kind of unpack their backpack and their day, but your eyes are down at your screen, they're going to feel that.”
As schools limit classroom phone usage, parents can extend that momentum by limiting device use once kids return home.
“Can we create some sacred space? For our family here in Clarkson, Michigan, it's usually 5 o'clock to 8 o'clock. That's when we're eating dinner, going to and from soccer and dance and all the things, but we're trying to be mindful.”
Ostach says like secondhand smoke, one person’s device usage seeps into a shared environment, like at the dinner table or a car ride, impacting everyone else’s sense of connection.
“The average 18-year-old today, if they live to be 80, 21 of those years will be spent on a screen. If that's the life that our children will live, how do we equip them to be responsible digital citizens?"
Ostach’s new book, The Gift of Connection: Reclaiming the Power of Presence in the Age of Distraction, is set for release on September 15 from Wiley.
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