‘Janeiro Branco’ (White January) is a mental health awareness campaign that highlights the importance of emotional wellbeing. In today’s fast-paced digital world, finding a healthy balance between screen time and real-life activities can be challenging.
Digital wellbeing is important because it can helps prevent burnout, reduces stress, and promotes a healthier relationship with technology. It ensures that we use devices in a way that enhances productivity and mental health, rather than detracting from it.
As Lyngs, 2019 explains that:
“(…) digital wellbeing fundamentally concerns the extent to which people are able to exert self-control over how they use their digital devices, and in particular whether they are able to align use of digital technology with their personal long-term goals” (Lyngs, 2019, p. 1).
In your classroom, explore the reasons why these wellbeing apps are developed; propose a time-limit challenge for a day or a week ask them to share their experience.
Here is an article that can be used for reading and speaking activities
Shock! Horror! Do you know how much time you spend on your phone? – The Guardian.
Here is are two videos that can be used to help you with the debate:
Here are two suggestions of apps are designed to support users in developing mindful habits, promoting a healthier relationship with technology and a more balanced lifestyle.
Digital Wellbeing & Parental Control (Android): This app helps you track and limit your screen usage, set app timers, and enable focus mode to minimize distractions. It also includes parental control features, allowing parents to guide their children’s digital habits responsibly.
How to find Digital Wellbeing & parental control (Bem-estar digital e controle parentais) on your cellphone:
* Open Settings: Go to the Settings
* Search for “Digital Wellbeing”: Scroll down or use the search bar;
* Select the option: When “Digital Wellbeing & parental controls” appears, tap to open it.
* Explore the features: You can now configure and explore the app’s features.
Screentime (iOS): Designed for Apple users, Screentime provides detailed insights into your device usage, allowing you to set limits on apps and schedule downtime. With family sharing features, parents can also monitor and manage their children’s screen time effectively.
How to find Screentime on your cellphone:
* Go to Settings > Screen Time.
* Tap “See All Activity on Apps and Websites”
* Tap Devices to select the device you want to see usage for.
* Tap Week to see a summary of your weekly usage, or tap Day to see a summary of your daily usage.
REFERENCE
LYNGS, Ulrik. Putting self-control at the centre of digital wellbeing. In: 2019 ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems [Position paper]), Glasgow, UK. 2019.
