The Electronics Addiction: A Good Problem

The electronics addiction is the most common good problem that comes through my office door these days. In many homes, technology meant to illuminate the mind ends up only illuminating the living room. Incredulous parents bring their children and adolescents to my office, asking how to unplug them from their screens without unplugging the family’s technology altogether. After all, how do you keep Junior off the Internet when he knows more about how to connect to it than you do? Hmmm. It really is a problem, albeit one only encountered by those of us fortunate enough to possess these kinds of technologies in our homes.

This book’s strategies are built on the idea that technology is a modern-day privilege for those of us fortunate enough to have it; it is not a universal “given.” As we discuss these strategies, I encourage you to consider not only their positive effects within your home, but also how your family’s healthier living will inspire other families. At a societal level, the electronics addiction isn’t a good problem at all. We live during a time in which some shoppers shiver all Thanksgiving night only to trample one another to death in a sunrise race through the electronics store to buy gaming consoles that allow them to create avatars of themselves. And some drivers risk killing themselves or others to send a text instead of simply pulling over first.

What a lousy game we play when we risk our lives for the sake of the screen. I’m glad you’ve decided to join me in playing a new game.