Here is an idea - let's get every parent together and throw all of our kid's phones, computers and gaming consoles into the Georges River. We'll book a marching band in honour of the occasion and record it on old fashioned Polaroid cameras. We can spend the rest of the week riding bikes, playing sport and actually enjoying this city.
Jokes aside, I'm worried about the impact of devices on our kids. Research in Europe shows an increase in online time from 3.4 hours a day to 3.8 hours per day due to COVID-19 lockdowns and home-schooling.
Our kids are becoming guineapigs to big, sophisticated social media companies and because they are the first generation to be immersed in this technology, we cannot be sure what the impact will be on their young, malleable minds.
Parents have told me their attempts to limit devices are met with cries of "but it's my life" and "it's the only way I can talk to my friends". To be honest, the kids have a point as a lot of interaction takes place online and kids do need to learn to socialise.
So as parents we need to work together and share our screen time restrictions and strategies and apply them across our children's social groups. We can also get directions from schools about when online work is critical. Acting together will can relieve some of the social pressure on our kids to be online because "everyone else is".
Children and young adults are often described as having plastic brains - crucial for learning but a big concern in an online world. It also means that most children are resilient and can cope with change. So let's take back some control, work together to sensibly restrict devices and get our kids back out into the real world.
