Every year when my very small family of fourteen gets together at my house, we make a very important rule: no phones at ALL times! We have a basket in our living room that everyone must put their phones in right next to the jar and pieces of paper that we all write what we are thankful for. We also do this when we get together for Christmas. After we finish hanging out while our delicious Thanksgiving dinner cooks, we all sit together and eat and talk about how fun or crazy our year has been. We then get our phones back after we eat. My grandmother started this tradition before she passed away because she felt that nobody paid attention to anything and there was silence in the air.
Thanksgiving and Christmas are the only two holidays out of the year where my family gets together to see each other. Using your phone makes you easily distracted, especially with the numerous social media apps there are, it is easy to get lost in your phone and not pay attention to what is around you at the moment. By having the no-phone policy, we can really get together as a family and have actual conversations.
Put your damn phones down! CBSN makes a great point about why we should keep our phones away and out of our reach during the holidays. Your family that you do not see may travel for hours or even take flights to come see you. Not using your phone for a few hours of the day and associating with them will be greatly appreciated, especially your elders.
Does your family allow you to use phones during the holidays? Or do they do the "basket method" like mine? If your family lets you use phones during the holidays, is anybody really paying attention and hanging out together?
I love that your family doesn't allow phones at the table because my family feels the exact same way. If anyone pulls out their phone at the dinner table, usually the younger family members, we will immediately be scolded and told to put our phones away. I feel that it is essential to institute at family gatherings. Phones can be a distraction during times when you're supposed to be bonding and celebrating the holidays together, enjoying the present. Phone use is appropriate depending on the situation when it comes to family and friend gatherings. I feel that if you are hanging out with your friends at home, with no intention of doing anything, going on your phone is acceptable. As long as there is consistent communication between those in the room, especially when making that phone use productive by coming up with topics of conversations or finding something funny online. This can be considered bonding because you are sharing something that you will both have a laugh with. When it comes to family gatherings, especially during important holidays, I feel this is the time to put the phones away entirely. Focus on spending time with those who you love on these certain holidays is essential.
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ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you about how phones shouldn’t be aloud at the dinner table during holidays. I like that your family puts their phones away at the table. Any meal at the table, we don’t have cell phones in our hands. I think that communicating with your family and having talks is so important. Communication is key especially conversing with your family. Thanksgiving and Christmas is a time to reminisce on old memories and create new ones and technology can sometimes get in the way of that. Our families are definitely similar in the fact that we only see each other for important holidays. Personally I love conversing with my family on holidays like this, that’s how you make the greatest memories that will last a lifetime. Especially with being so far away from my family through out the year and being up in NH I don’t see them as much as I want to and me staying off my phone at the dinner table is a respectful thing that I do.
PREACH! I love your family's phone basket idea, that is such a great way to make sure everyone is in touch on the best holiday ever. Thanksgiving is my favorite day of the year, for two reasons. Food food food and the fact that my family and I take the day away from social media and phones. When we enter the dining room, it is all phones off and there is not a single thing wrong with that. I can not wait for Thanksgiving for the simple fact, I get to put down my food and not even be anxious about it because I am too busy thinking about how much food I have ate, and how much food I still have to eat!
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