2020 issue is more recent. It contains articles such as
Two recent popular screen-based warnings against
This Is Your Brian on Tech and Growing
screen-based culture are Screenagers
Up Wired. The sidebars are Taming Our
(great for teens and their parents) and
Tech, Tribal Tech and A Pediatrician’s
The Social Dilemma. The latter can be
Guide to Screen Time.
found on Netflix.
Parents should read a Washington Post
If you think all of these resources are
article, Melinda Gates: I spent my career
great, but they are far too tame to deal
in technology. I wasn’t prepared for its
with your hard-core affliction, you may
effect on my kids. washingtonpost.com/
want to turn to Dr. David Greenfield and
news/parenting/wp/2017/08/24/melinda-
the Center for Internet and Technology
gates-i-spent-my-career-in-technology-i-
Addiction (CITA). He has treated patients
wasnt-prepared-for-its-effect-on-my-kids
from every corner of the US regarding
Randi Zuckerberg wrote two books that are especially relevant. For adults--Dot Complicated: How to Make
issues of video gaming, video porn, and tech dependency and abuse. virtual-addiction.com
It Through Life Online in One Piece by Transworld Publishing Limited. For children—see below.
For Children Dot., a book by Randi Zuckerberg, (Harper Collins), and a
As mentioned above, PJ Library and PJ Our Way are
television series by Universal Kids.
great resources for monthly books of Jewish content.
Good Night, iPad, by Ann Droyd. You may purchase the book or google a few read-aloud versions, based on Good Night, Moon
Please contact Lyndsey Ursillo at the Jewish Alliance for free subscriptions. lursillo@jewishallianceri.org or 401.421.4111.
You have the final word—you will decide if you will
decline in happiness” from 1988 to the present. Whether
make any changes in your life. You can follow Tiffany’s
it is our capitalist society or socialism, we would still be
idea of a Technology Shabbat or unplug in some other
in the same state of unhappiness. The tech revolution
way, such as with Catherine Price’s or Tommy Sobel’s
was supposed to provide “everything you want at the
method. Or you can keep to your status quo.
click of a mouse.” However, consumerism, government
Above, I mention how Arthur Green shortened the whole idea into “Visit people, not websites.” I just found another slogan. Arthur Brooks (The Atlantic, October 22, 2020) writes that though even the lowest economic quintile of people in our country have more income and consumer goods, no one (upper-, middle- or lower-class) feels any happier. There has been “a long-term gradual
and technology will “never satisfy.” He believes that the world encourages us to “love things and use people.” Instead, he advises that we “put this on your fridge and try to live by it: Love people; use things.” I believe that is the true message of those who unplug, and of Shabbat itself. However, they don’t believe that putting a slogan on the fridge is sufficient. You must make it an active part of your life, and unplugging is the key to doing that. 19
