Digital Mental Health
One of my favourite Jewish wisdom quotes is by Ben Bag Bag who said - “Turn it, and turn it, for everything is in it. Reflect on it and grow old and gray with it. Don’t turn from it, for nothing is better than it.” (Avot 5:22)
I love this quote not just because of his name, but because of the wisdom in his words. The ‘it’ in ‘turn it’ is usually interpreted to mean the Torah scroll and stories, but Torah can also mean learning or teaching, and that it should be ongoing to help nourish us.
The quote feels very apt today, yet with an implicit warning. For if you replace Torah with ‘screen’, ‘online’ or ‘social media’ we suddenly see our own children and adolescents’ current reality reflected. Many families are in this difficult position, on the one hand relying on screens and the internet to help their children learn and be engaged in school, and yet on the other hand seeing the effect the many hours on laptops, in online classrooms, and social platforms are having. There is a worrying rise in addictive or altered behaviour amongst children and adolescents since screens have become the most important aspect of interaction with anyone outside of the immediate family.
Chavurah member Leanne Hoffman, Psychotherapist and Counsellor MA MBCAP (Accred.) will explore some of the issues around digital addictive behaviours, as well as anxiety, during our Mental Health Shabbat tomorrow night. Join us for an important conversation about anxiety and addictive behaviours. There will be time for your questions as well.
It is easy to only see the prevalence of screens as a negative, but as Ben Bag bag reminds us - we have to turn everything over and see it from a different angle. And the other side of this is the urgent need for laptops and connectivity amongst children in the borough for home learning, which is why we have launched our Digital Inclusion Laptop Appeal. There are many who are trying to deal with this issue, raising money for new laptops which is wonderful, but there is a long wait on delivery, with some schools still not having received laptops that were ordered more than six months ago. With this in mind we are combining the urgent need for connection and learning, with our ongoing work on minimising our footprints and helping our planet by collecting and refurbishing your old laptops, so that nothing is sent to landfill, and keeping the need for new materials to a minimum.
Do look in your drawers, ask your neighbours and family, and summon your inner chutzpah and see whether your place of work might have old laptops stashed away for disposal.
And if you don’t have a device but would like to help, you can donate money towards the cost of the refurbishment here:
Let’s follow Ben Bag Bag’s advice and turn our situation over and see it from both sides, the need to learn about how to help children and adolescents (and perhaps ourselves as well) with screen behaviour, AND help those who desperately need screens in order to access learning. A digital divide is only a divide until someone manages to find a way across, and build a connection.
Shabbat shalom
Drop off information: 62 Carysfort Road, N8
There is a box in the front garden with CEC written on it. Please wrap your laptop in a plastic bag and place it in the box which will be emptied every night.
If you have any questions or want to help, email sandra@crouchendchavurah.org
For further reading:
Are You Addicted to the Internet?