At last! Proof that children CAN survive a week without their wretched computers

By Winifred Robinson

The idea of asking my son Tony, who is nine, to give up computers and electronic games for a week was a tall order, to say the least.

Agree to come off the computer? I have trouble getting him to leave it for the few minutes necessary for survival  -  to get dressed, eat, sleep, that sort of thing.

But in the interests of finding out how he'd manage without his electronic lifeline, I was determined to convince him to go cold turkey for seven days.

Tony and Winifred Robinson

Winifred helps Tony make a chart showing the phases of the Moon

His first response when I broached the subject was predictable enough.

'Why?' he wailed. I explained that the experiment was meant to discover what children would do with their time instead.

There's never been more focus on the effect computers have on children, with two alarming pieces of research published in the past month highlighting the negative impact of computers and televisions.

The first study, by Childwise, revealed that youngsters are shunning books and outdoor games to spend up to six hours a day in front of screens.

They're watching TV, surfing the internet or using games consoles, and researchers warned these children would struggle as adults because they lack reading, writing and life skills.

Even more worryingly, the Good Childhood report for the Children's Society says that computers and television have pushed a generation of children towards violent behaviour, early sex and mental illness.

Now, it isn't that my husband Roger and I don't restrict Tony's screen-time. There is no TV or computer in his bedroom.

We have imposed a ban on the computer before school to avoid the endless arguments that ensue when it's time to get ready  -  we've found electronic games tend to make children irritable.

It's become clear that these games are designed to be difficult to put down, hooking children in through tasks that must be perfected to win rewards and rise to the next level.

That's why, in our household, however much computer time is allowed, a request to come and do something else is always met with the reply from Tony: 'In a minute.'

Tony and Winifred Robinson

Getting Tony to practise piano is a little more difficult

Was he spending up to six hours a day glued to a screen, as the Childwise research suggests? I hated to confess, but on wet weekends probably yes.

That's why he was going to be so resistant to having his entertainment taken away.

Every day, he loves to spend time hopping between hisWii, his handheld DS games console, the computer where he browses video clips on YouTube, and children's TV.

Sure enough, a tough negotiation followed my proposal that he find something else to do with his time. A helpful chap, Tony was somewhat swayed by the idea he'd be taking part in my work by giving up his consoles.

But a whole week? He thought we should start counting from the day before  -  a Sunday when we'd been out swimming all day. He also pleaded to be allowed children's TV. I accepted both terms, but suggested that television time would be limited to no more than 45 minutes each day.

So we had a deal, but it was clear that Tony was pretty glum about it.

He was cheered to discover that for the evening I had planned to make a wall chart on the phases of the Moon. It was a school project which Tony had been putting off for ages.

In the event, he enjoyed cutting and sticking the black Moons with their crescents of silver paper.

After an hour or so, Tony started hopping from one foot to the other, agitated, muttering: 'I don't want to do it.' I thought he meant the Moon chart, but in fact he was fretting about going without his computer.


Baking proves educational with Tony weighing out the ingredients

That first evening, I allowed 45 minutes of television before dinner and none afterwards. Instead, we chatted and Tony spent a further 15 minutes telling the time with a cardboard clock face I'd bought from the Early Learning Centre, but had never been able to persuade him to try. Then he had an early night.

He was a bit weepy going upstairs, troubled by the prospect of a week without the computer. But he was fast asleep long before eight.

On Tuesday morning, I was at work, but my husband Roger was at home.

He reported our son was up at seven. Banned from TV, he wrote a funny story called 'Batman on the Titanic'.

Then he was allowed to watch television for half an hour. He got his own cereal  -  so none of the repeated calling for him to come away from children's early morning TV.

There followed 15 minutes of piano practice, something else that has tended to get squeezed out, then homework.

We were both delighted at such a rapid change to his routine, but Tony was still anxious that friends might not want to come over if they could not play computer games. These peer pressures, and the need to fit in and be 'cool', seem to afflict children earlier than they did when I was at school.

And yet he needn't have troubled. At the bus stop he was invited to a friend's for tea.

When we mentioned our no-computers rule, the mother agreed and so the boys played pillow fighting and hide and seek.

I noticed when I collected Tony that he was flushed with exertion  -  always good to see in a young boy who, like most of his generation, probably doesn't get enough exercise.


Tony enjoys reading his Dr Who book

As the week progressed, we soon found ourselves in a virtuous cycle of 'early to bed and early to rise'. We realised that with no computer and limited TV, days began with storywriting and drawing before moving on to piano practice and homework.

On Saturday, we had to endure some pestering by Tony to be allowed back on the Wii, but we held firm. Tony's time was spent writing and drawing, at his piano lesson, reading Dr Who books and playing old-fashioned games of imagination.

We were struck by how relaxed and good-tempered Tony seemed. Freed from the lure of computer games, he was more co-operative. We noticed, too, that we spent more time together as a family. I realised that without the MP3, he was much chattier.

Any opportunity to talk is an opportunity to learn, and after breakfast Tony read us news items from the morning papers that had caught his attention.

What this experiment proved to me is that our children, deprived of screens and gadgets, will return to more traditional and more educational activities  -  and quickly, too.

If the results were so positive, why haven't we just taken Tony's gadgets away? According to Childwise, most parents allow computers because they believe they are educational.

In fact, all children tend to use them for is games, surfing the net and chatting on social networking sites. This echoes a report from the Institute for Public Policy Research which concluded the educational benefits of computers have been exaggerated.

I don't kid myself that Tony's computer use is educational. No, the reason we allow them for Tony is that he is shy and one of the youngest boys in his class. Skill at computer games has given him confidence and helped him make friends.

But when it comes to why we allow Tony's computer use to creep up, our motivation  -  if I am honest  -  is more selfish. Left with his gadgets, Tony is much less trouble to us.

On Saturday, for example, we spent the afternoon baking muffins. It is educational  -  Tony weighed out all the ingredients  -  but it takes up quite a bit of time. Roger had the demands of the daily piano practice. For many working parents, what 'me-time' exists is often created by plonking a child in front of a screen.

Although our initial assessment was that Tony was happier and more co-operative because we had removed the bad influence of computer games, on reflection the real reason may be simpler  -  Tony, like most children, thrives on one-to-one attention.

For him to spend less time onscreen every week, we would all have to change our ways. But after our screen-free week, we were convinced it would be well worth the effort.

Our household had been so much happier as a result. Even in the course of a few days, we could see our hopes for Tony  -  that he should play the piano and do well at school  -  much more likely to be fulfilled.

Although Tony was reluctant to endorse our findings, he conceded that it 'hadn't been too bad'. He said he found Saturday hardest and he pointed out, not unreasonably, that most of his new toys from Christmas were gadgets of some sort.

Although Tony was eager to get back to his computer, he readily agreed to some new limits; there will be a ban on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays after school, and only three hours allowed each day at weekends.

In my experience children prefer firm rules; in the case of the computer, I suspect it may be me and his dad who have trouble sticking to them.