Technology, we all agree, has gotten out of hand. We have our phones within an arm’s length away at all times (even in the bathroom, gross)! Research has shown that blue light suppresses melatonin production for more than twice as long as other light wavelengths. This interference can have a significant effect on health, creating problems with the cardiovascular, metabolic, and immune systems, disturbing mood, and compromising cognitive function. When your rhythms are out of whack, you think, feel, and perform below your best—and over time, your health can be put at risk. That is only how technology affects our body, what about our relationships?

In the majority of families, each member has their own phone. Long gone are the corded single-family phone numbers of which you had your conversations in front of each other in the kitchen! With this privacy comes isolation. Each family member in the same room on their own technology “talking” to others by the click of a keyboard/phone or worse… to their corner of the house in completely separate rooms. Many parents have expectations concerning their children and their phones, i.e. time limits, turning off at a certain time, although themselves are on their computers finishing their work from that day, again not interacting with the rest of the family.

It might not seem like it, but our family members (yes, even your teens) are craving our undivided attention! Schedule, YES more scheduling, a family hour of no technology! Maybe an hour doesn’t feel like enough, but let’s all start with one hour. Putting away your technology will mean a lot to your children and it will teach them how to remove themselves from theirs!