Families should unplug their computers and TVs if only to spend more quality time with their household members. As time spent by family members on the internet and TV increases, family time continues to decline. Results of studies on American families reveal that household members are spending less time with other household members. On the average, an internet user spends 3 hours online every day, while viewers spend an average of 1.7 hours daily watching TV.
Homes are slowly transforming into boarding houses. There seems to be an emerging culture of adults paying no attention to their partners and children, and children not being mindful of their parents and siblings. The family is considered to be the breeding ground for future leaders and responsible citizens. In the home, adults and children are expected to give and receive love and translate this to the whole of society. It is here where children learn the values of trust, support, and kindness, and how to handle anger, loss, embarrassment, etc. It is here where adults continue to grow emotionally and try to live life to the fullest.
There is no substitute for the home as an emotional cradle. Observations on many teenagers show that they are smart, but many of them lack emotional intelligence. To put it simpler, many of them do not know how to “read” other people - not even their own selves. It has been said that emotional intelligence refers to the ability of an individual to understand, read, and manage his or her own emotions. This can only be learned when an individual is given the time to live, work, and play with real people.
What happens today in many families is that members spend more and more time either with their online friends or their TV news and superheroes. A survey on internet use done way back in 2004 revealed a significant connection between spending time online and time spent with the family. For every hour spent online daily by an average user, he or she loses 23.5 minutes which could be spent with his or her family. Furthermore, the average surfer also gets less sleep; an average of 8.5 minutes per day for every hour spent online.
If online friends, games and TV programs become more important than the real people that family members live with, then families will suffer. Families should spend more time with “real” friends in their households. Gathering around the dinner table or taking an inexpensive family outing are just some simple ways of family bonding. Families become more cohesive when they are interacting face-to-face more often. By doing so, each member will come to appreciate each other’s real interests and know what they think and feel.
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