We were having a family conversation one day, and suddenly, I lost track of the whole discussion and pleaded for a repeat of the previous statement. I got distracted with my phone checking through notifications. The conversation lasted barely 5 minutes when I shifted my attention to my phone—really a bad habit, right? I totally accepted and embraced change a long time ago, but it will interest you to know that I am not alone in this habit. Many of us are victims of this habit, all because of the technological devices we are blessed with in this era.
Family connection in this digital era is becoming a challenge. Over the years before the advent of technology devices like our mobile phones, there used to be this kind of bond that existed between family members without much distractions, but now it's been a struggle to maintain a genuine connection without interferences caused by our phones. Many people are becoming phone addicts, and we failed to set boundaries during certain family times, thus creating connection gaps between family members.
Family time is usually one of my most cherished moments. That time of discussion, dinner time, family day out, or even celebration brings an unusual bond with each other, creating long-lasting memories and strengthening communication. It's fair to say that families can always make the most of these moments without our gadgets serving as distractions, but looking at this from another point, you would agree with me that such family time may also need a technology device to capture the moment. You will feel great sitting down on your own and going through your gallery to watch the past nice times with your loved ones. This is one of the reasons why I am not totally in support of banning the use of a phone completely during family time but rather set boundaries.
Talking from the perspective of a parent, I must admit that the use of the phone during family time doesn't send great lessons to my kids. In other words, I am telling them that it's okay to combine the two. Let me quickly share this revelation with you. I was once embarrassed by my 6-year-old son. He said, Mom, can you please stop making hive and eat your food?
It was dinner time, and I kept hearing notification sounds left and right. I couldn't overlook it but shifted attention to my phone.. really, his statement pierced through my heart, and I took the correction immediately. Imagine when a child throws such a statement at you; it wasn't a pleasant experience, I would say. There's time for everything indeed, and family time brings more connections and nothing should interfere. But then, there was also a time during a lovely moment with my family, and in the process, a call came in. My second son said again, Daddy, I know you won't be joining us again in this game after the call. Hubby was a bit reluctant to answer the call so his son wouldn't feel unhappy, but after dragging with his spirit, he picked up the call, and behold, it was a man who got his contact from someone. The man said that he called a few days ago and he didn't pick, and this time was his second and final try. Then he may change his mind and give the contract to another person, even though my husband was highly recommended to him.
These two scenarios made us discuss family time and phone usage at home, seeking balance instead. During our family time, there's only a partial ban on phones; the use of phones is for very important calls only and capturing the moment sometimes, and we made the kids understand that, while educating them on our decisions.
Many times we are physically present at family outings or gatherings but lose sense of connection; it's all about our devices trying to meet up with one thing or another. Before my family implemented discipline and restrictions during family time, we were almost losing the kind of connection we once had, but I was glad that it got restored after heart-to-heart discussion about the use of phones and our family bond.
Technology was designed to make life easier for us, and instead of allowing it to control us, we should rather control it and make maximum use of it positively.
This is my response to the #hivelearners community contest on the topic titled, Family Time, No phones
Ps: Image 2 here, image 1 & 3 were taken from canva.
Thanks for reading ❤️❤️❤️