Staying almost motionless for hours each day looking at screens has
effects on our bodies: shortening and atrophy of certain
muscles, calcification of joints, effects on posture,
physical strength, stamina, obesity, sleep disturbance, nausea, migraines, etc. Not many positive effects are found.
To
compensate, alert applications, digital personal trainers, connected watches, posture correction devices and techniques, weight loss diets, workout plans. There is everything, some plausible
and a lot of pretensions. Finally none of these "solutions" have any power over our collective choices.
In school, the discourse changes a bit: active classes active classes, outdoor classes, physical activities, active transportation... but in the face of hours spent on screens outside of school, to the detriment of outdoor activities more often than not, the physical performance continues to decline. Today's top students reach the average of students 40 years ago. We are not talking about performance athletes but about students in regular regular classes. We are getting to an emotional fragility supported by a physical fragility.
Facing directly with one's condition is not easy. The culture of effort and perseverance necessary to overcome personal difficulties seems to be replaced by an offer of assistance, justified by often induced disorders and deficits. But whose responsibility is it to straighten up, to reduce one's screen attendance?
We won't take digital out of our lives, so how do we integrate digital in school and elsewhere, without having to bend to the demands of the machine?
Denys Lamontagne - [email protected]
Illustration: DepositPhotos - Lenanichizhenova
