Want to join the Irvington PTSA’s efforts to discourage children from spending too much time on their phones, If so, tomorrow, March 7, is gray for a day.
If you are a parent you might get upset if your son or daughter spends too much time on their smart phone texting friends, playing video games or on social media. You’ve tried to discourage the overusing of smart phones. And, haven’t been successful. In Irvington the PTSA is doing something about it.
The Irvington PTSA is trying to encourage parents and children to rely less on cell phones. On the first Thursday of every month Heads Up Rivertowns sponsors a day called Gray for a day. They encourage students to go gray. The apps on our phones are intentionally designed to hold our attention for long periods of time so that tech companies can make money from advertisers. Grayscale modes help us be more aware of how much time we spend looking at our phones and can make phones less addicting. They have a website: www.headuprivertowns.com with more info.
They want children to be more screen smart.
Below is a link to an interview with Heads Up Rivertowns founders Allison Waguespack and Wendy Hart on Paul Feiner’s WVOX radio show from last Friday.
Heads Up Rivertowns Background:
Heads Up Rivertowns is a committee created to bring awareness, education, support and advocacy to encourage a screen smart community in the current and changing age of technology.
Awareness – we will begin community conversations and sponsor activities during which we think critically about the effects of smartphones, social media and gaming on our children and on ourselves.
Education – we will provide information about the effects of screens on children so families can make informed decisions about how and when to introduce different types of technology.
Support – we will provide support for families who want to hold off on various technologies for their children, and we will provide information on smartphone alternatives.
Advocacy – we will advocate for policies for screen use both at home and at school, and we will use research to support those policies.
We are raising our children in a time when technology is everywhere – in our homes, in our classrooms, in our kids’ hands when they walk home from school or get together with friends. While technology brings us many benefits, many parents have become concerned about the pervasive presence of technology in our kids’ lives.
Heads Up Rivertowns was created by a group of parents in the Rivertowns – Irvington, Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow, Dobbs Ferry and Hastings – to advocate for screen-smart policies in our schools and to educate and support families in our communities about the effects of digital media.
Let’s start the conversation. Let’s review the research, talk to our kids and each other, and figure out what makes sense for our families.
Let’s get our heads up from our screens and work together to be a screen smart community.
Take the gray for a day challenge. And are you stuck on your phone? Try the screen time usage challenge…. How much can you reduce your screen time usage in one day? Then notice how much fun you are having!
