Exactly one year ago, I turned off all the screens in the home for three weeks. Dr. Victoria Dunckley wrote “Reset Your Child’s Brain” for parents whose children exhibit symptoms of Electronic Screen Syndrome (ESS).
These symptoms range from ADHD, ADD, OCD, to emotional meltdowns, to anxiety and depression, to sleep disruptions, to hating math (after loving it in younger elementary age) etc. The book details exactly what to do for the three weeks of the fast and the preceding week, when you prepare for it. It also informs you what to expect week by week.
Our son cubing while waiting for orchestra practice
My son did not like it one bit, but it changed his life. Ten days into it, he started cleaning his room (which the book predicted). By the end of the fast, he had learned how to solve Rubik’s cube in less than a minute. One month later, he asked our pastor for Bible studies so that he may prepare for baptism.
Six months after the fast, in January 2023, he decided to quit video games of his own free will. He has not looked back since. Cubing has taken up all his free time and he has competed in West Virginia and Georgia.
His PB (personal best) time in 3×3 is 7.30 seconds, and his best ao5 (average of 5 solves) is 9.27 seconds. We are going to Nationals, where he will compete in 3×3, 2×2, and pyraminx. One can only go to Nationals if one has qualifying times in previously held WCA competitions.
Other Accomplishments
He has improved his relationship with all of us and he became state champion in Physics (Crave the Wave) and Solar System in Science Olympiad. One thing that really helped him was to discover self-improvement videos for young men on YouTube.
This summer, he is working at my husband’s business, practicing his violin, preparing for his black belt test in taekwondo, and helping sister with her violin practice. He is starting his own business this month. He will also be baptized this month, in a lake, at the summer camp he has attended since he was seven. Our pastor, who moved to Florida two months ago, will travel to the camp (in Georgia) to baptize him.
Our son is a success story to the power of turning off the screens to reset the brain. He tells people that. In his own words, “My mom turned off the screens last summer and I didn’t like it one bit, but I’ve come around and I’m very grateful for it.”
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We did the same thing back in 2013. It completely changed our home for the better. It was about 2 years before we slowly started electronics back up. It has now become a big part of my littles everyday life. My big kids, because of the fast in 2013, like to play a little here or there but it’s not the first thing they want to do in their down time. After reading your blog post today I realized it’s time to do a fast for my littles. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the kind comment.