Review of Childhood Unplugged
I learned of this book from Tsh Oxenreider's Weekly Letter.
If I ever have an opportunity to hand a parent or a soon to be parent that is wondering how to navigate bringing up a child in our modern North American context, I would, without hesitation, hand him or her Martinko's book. Martinko and her husband have three boys and send them to public school. However, they are both alarmed about the increasing presence of and reliance upon "screens" in private and public life. They are also concerned about the short and long term effects of abundant screen usage. Martinko convincingly offers another way to raise and educate the children. If you want children that are creative, inventive, imaginative, empathetic, have sustained focus, deeper comprehension, emotionally regulate themselves, and are physically fit, then she has some solid recommendations.
Before she gets to the recommendations, she explains what research and parental observation have already discerned about sustained computer or "screen" usage does to children and adults. It's not conducive to productive citizenry. She also admits to the computer's addictive qualities from personal experience.
Her recommendations begin with "get rid of the screens" and then include lots of free range outdoor play, lots of reading, and continues on from there. I found the recommendations reasonable and well thought out.
The reader may not agree with everything that Martinko recommends, but she will make you make conscientious choices about how you raise your family.
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