The weekend of April 24 through 26 is going to be special. The kids might say, “it’s going to be real.”
And yeah, that’s literally true. Real life, I mean.
A new effort is encouraging people across Lewis County that weekend to turn off their phones, tablets and devices, shut their laptop screens, maybe even turn off their televisions. Instead, this is a chance to turn toward conversation, games, activities, books, enjoying the burgeoning springtime.
You know — real life.
Wouldn’t it be cool if we all joined this excellent new endeavor?
It’s the brainchild of a group of local school board members from Centralia, Chehalis and Mossyrock. They’re calling it the Lewis County Thriving Generation Device-Free Weekend.
They invite people and families to unplug, reconnect, and recharge from the evening of Friday, April 24 through the close of Sunday, April 26.
“Our goal is to promote healthy device habits by reducing screen time and inspiring meaningful, face-to-face engagement,” they said in an announcement.
They are encouraging local businesses, churches, PTOs and PTAs, schools, and community organizations to offer special activities, family-friendly events, outdoor opportunities, or creative promotions that weekend to support quality time, open play and community connection.
I’m so excited and encouraged by this organized effort to help us collectively snap our addiction to screens AND remake the lost connections that truly make life better.
The Lewis County Thriving Generation group began out of a gathering of local school leaders that discuss legislative issues and other matters. As they talked about cellphone policies in their schools, these three school board directors decided to try for a device-free weekend.
Why?
It’s a way to help bring back family strength and a simpler way of life, Deb Parnham of the Centralia School Board told me. It’s a way of reconnecting, of visiting with folks, and going out to see what’s in the real world instead of just scrolling a virtual one.
“We’re not trying to control people and tell them what to do,” Parnham said, “but just to set out a challenge: Can you do it? Reconnect with your town, reconnect with your parks. There’s more out there than what’s in front of your face.”
She said that several years ago, in the face of overwhelming problems from cell phones, Centralia instituted a full ban on younger kids having phoned in school at all. At first, lunchtime was almost painful. Middle schoolers simply didn’t know what to do, how to be kids together without devices. The principal pulled out board games, arts and crafts. Teachers taught them how to knit, crochet, line dance.
Chehalis School Board member Kelsi Hamilton said the idea was inspired by Peninsula Thriving Generation, a well-established project on the Key Peninsula (a rural enclave west of Tacoma). That organization describes itself as “a campaign bringing back the play-based childhood: Promoting healthy, moderated phone use — and making space for kids to roam, imagine, and play together.”
Hamilton said they’d love to eventually see something like the Key Peninsula’s well-organized and ongoing project in Lewis County. But that would take funding and organization that’s beyond their current volunteer resources.
“We just don’t have the capacity to take it on” right now, Hamilton said.
Fortunately, Lewis County’s upcoming Device-Free Weekend, April 24-26, is free — and without phones in front of our faces, we’ll be free that weekend, indeed.
Teresa Ekdahl-Johnson, a school board member in Mossyrock, said the idea is “ditch our cellphones for at least a weekend and be able to reflect on the changes we saw in ourselves and our kids and being in the moment.”
Ekdahl-Johnson is a nurse practitioner specializing in addiction medication, and has been unsettled by how our kids get hooked on phones.
“You see that with teenagers,” she said. “If we take away their cellphone it’s like we’re cutting off a limb.”
And she acknowledges what most of us grown-ups know: we all spend too much time on our phones.
A screen-free weekend for the whole family is a great chance to reset and restart. Let’s look each other in the eyes again.
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Perhaps coincidentally, the pre-Easter period of spiritual focus called Lent begins this week on Feb. 18. Traditionally, it’s a time when many Christians intentionally sacrifice something from their lives in anticipation of the great sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. By giving something up for 40 days, we can gain a deeper relationship with God.
In the past I’ve given up social media and smartphone use for Lent. The benefits have been enormous. In fact, I got a big collie dog out of it. But that’s a column for another day.
What are you giving up for Lent, or what has been a valuable sacrifice in the past? Let me know. Let’s grow together.
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Brian Mittge is a community enthusiast who has written for The Chronicle since 2000 as a reporter, editor and columnist. He can be reached at brianmittge@hotmail.com.
