Could you do without devices for 24 hours?

No judgements here, says CyberSafeIreland's Philip Arneill — the first annual Cyber Break campaign is simply a way that families can volunteer to put the screens away, reconnect, and foster a better offline/online balance.

This Covid world has exposed how increasingly reliant on technology we have all become. Picture: iStock

CyberSafeIreland will launch our first annual Cyber Break campaign on October 16. 

The idea is simple. We are encouraging people to put away their phones and devices for 24 hours from 5pm on October 16 until 5pm the following day. 

This is neither meant as judgement nor admonition. It is simply a call to action, and a great opportunity for families and people across the country to reconnect, refocus, and recharge themselves, rather than their devices.

If we were to turn the clock back — which perhaps many of us wish we could — it was hard to imagine a year ago that we would have been heading into autumn and living with such uncertainty. 

Many of us never even considered the idea of working from home or homeschooling (the mere idea of a return to this brings most parents out in hives), and it is unlikely that many of us would have been able to pick the Zoom app out of a lineup before this March. 

Yet here we are in October, and Zoom has not only become a regular part of most of our lives, but both a noun and verb bandied about in daily use, already seamlessly integrated into our lexicon. 

In the early days of lockdown, our shift to video interactions even spawned the infamous ‘Zoombombing’ phenomenon, which (thankfully) seemed to quickly become a thing of the past. 

What has become abundantly clear in this Covid landscape, however, is not only how empowering and sanity-saving technology can be, but also how increasingly reliant on it we have all become. So what better month than Cyber Awareness Month to reassess this balance in our lives?

Back in the (already seemingly) distant pre-coronavirus days of September 2019, when we released our annual report, one of the more concerning statistics from our survey of over 3,800 primary school children was that 12% of eight to 12-year-olds were now spending a total of 61 full days online per year. 

It is worth clarifying that this means 61 full days, not simply 61 days going online. A sixth of an entire year spent online seems astonishing to those of us born in the pre-internet world. 

Similarly, the Childrens’ Mental Health Report of 2019 found that 81% of teens reported that social media makes them feel more connected to their friends. For children and young people in particular, being online and being connected is important — and for some, of course, it may be their only choice.

If these statistics are symptomatic of our pre-lockdown world, we can only imagine to what degree they may have increased since the pandemic began, in a time when for months many of us were literally confined to within a 2km radius of our homes. 

In fact, we no longer need to imagine. The recent KiDiCoTi study from the National Anti Bullying Centre, DCU & European Commission (August 2020) recently found that:

• 71% of children who use smartphones (56% of the entire sample) said they used smartphones during the lockdown more often than before;
• 66% of children who use gaming consoles (49% of the entire sample) said they used gaming consoles more often than before;
• 72% of children who use social media (53% of the entire sample) said they used social media more often than before the lockdown.

So why then are we calling for a Cyber Break on October 16, when, for many of us, being online is perhaps the only way that we can continue to work effectively, or connect and communicate with the people beyond the walls of our homes? 

Again, the idea is simple. With so many of us being forced online more than we ever imagined we would be (and more than we find desirable), CyberSafeIreland felt there was no better time to place the focus on creating a healthy balance between our online and offline worlds. 

One dedicated day to disconnect from solitary use of devices, and reconnect offline with friends and family: within the guidelines around which we all currently plan our lives, of course.

Our messaging as an organisation is clear and we believe in balance: for all the positives and transformative impact the online world brings, it also comes with inherent risks and dangers. 

One result of the seismic shift online over the last six months, therefore, is that our message is now more pertinent than ever, and it’s even more crucial that both children and adults understand how to be safer and smarter online.

Wellbeing has undoubtedly been one of the corporate buzzwords of the last few years, and it can be easy and tempting to simply paste it onto the name of an event or initiative and think that the job is done. 

What it really requires, though, is a conscious effort on the part of the people involved, to take meaningful steps to develop healthier habits and a more balanced environment for themselves and those around them. 

That’s why we are encouraging families all over Ireland to break from that dependence on being online, by making a conscious effort to come offline and put devices and internet connectivity to the side if they can. 

We are calling for people to spend that time differently (offline), and with the support of the Permanent TSB Community Fund, we have compiled a range of fun activities which families can try, and lesson ideas for teachers to use in lessons. These will to help promote this new annual Cyber Break event, and refocus the importance of having a healthy offline/online balance in a time when perhaps that line has become more blurred than ever.

Philip Arneill is Head of Education & Innovation at CyberSafeIreland.

For more, visit cybersafeireland.org and try a CyberSafeFamily Quiz on cyberbreak.ie.

For more on the work of the Permanent TSB Community Fund, please visit permanenttsb.ie/responsible-business