Can A Digital Detox Camp Help You Reconnect?
As people struggle to strike an online and offline balance, the 'digital detox camp' trend has reached the UK.
They are already popular in the United States and in China they are run more like military boot camps than retreats.Inspired by those, digital entrepreneur Tanya Goodin started running her own.
Unlike the way camps are run in China, the OFF author said her aim is to focus the mind and help people reconnect - to remind children and adults what they did in quiet time, before they had smartphones.
"Some of the things we encourage people to do is to look at mindful activities so an activity which requires your complete concentration.
"So it could be something like yoga, surfing, people do a lot of things like jigsaws, creative activities and getting outside in the fresh air." she said.
How much time children should spend on entertainment media is difficult to find in the UK as there is no official source.
The Children's Commissioner recently launched guidelines for children but as Ms Goodin explained, it steers away from quantifying the amount of time they should be spending on screens.
It is advice she continues to campaign for.
"There are clear guidelines on alcohol, drugs and smoking for children, and with new research coming out regularly linking excess screen, internet and social media time to adverse outcomes for both children and adults, the UK is now lagging behind in helping parents navigate this problem.
"Screen time guidelines by age are needed now."
Ms Goodin carried out a survey of more than 500 young people aged 13 to 18 when touring schools to speak to youngsters about their online habits.
Of those, 29% said they spent more than eight hours a day online.
While 36% admitted they regularly fell asleep with their phone or laptop in bed.
One of the other common trends discovered from the survey was that two thirds of children turn to their phone when they are bored.
Psychologist Geoff Beattie believes heavy usage of personal technology is fragmenting the family.
"There was the moral panic about TV, but a generation ago, the whole family watched TV together but it was the family unit together.
"This new moral panic is based on actual important data about what is happening because personal tech is fragmenting the family because kids are off in the bedroom on social media.
"It is having an impact on how families interact together and on the mental health of children," he said.
'Heavy personal tech usage fragments family'
Mindset Coach Donna Hubbard says there are simple things everyone of all ages can do to help themselves.
"When you go to reach for your phone, just pause and ask yourself if there will be any price to pay for choosing to invest your head space online in that moment.
"For example, will it mean that you will miss out on quality time with friends and family that you are not going to get back and that quick reality check will help you put things into perspective and resist that urge.
"Also, change your mindset, choose to place more importance on building real world connections because if you cultivate your life with interactions as nature intended then both the need and appeal of being online for such long periods of time will decrease," she said.
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