Creating a digital buffer for your kid and yourself: Tenille Bonoguore

In the 10 years since digital devices started flooding our lives, they have managed to make themselves both essential and exasperating.

They deliver a world of information to our fingertips — but they distract us from the world around us. They help families stay in touch — but make it hard for kids to avoid online peer pressure. 

And because these devices do everything, we never put them down.

But it doesn't have to be this way, according to a University of Waterloo professor who has been exploring our relationship with tech for a number of years.

Marcel O'Gorman is an English professor, an artist, and director of the University of Waterloo's Critical Media Lab. His current focus is how devices rob us of attention. Research shows that all these digital distractions add up. So he created a fun do-it-yourself project that aims to get some of that back: the Resistor Case.

So, what is it?

The Resistor Case is essentially a pouch you make for your phone. It comes as a kit — you get fabric, rivets, nails and Velcro — and you hammer it all together to make a small fabric holder.

The idea is that when you want to focus, you put your phone in the Resistor Case. Your device stays on you, but it's out of sight. Access is hampered only by the very loud Velcro.

As O'Gorman says, you can check your phone, but everyone will know what you're up to. "It prompts [the user] to self-regulate," he said. "You can do it, but there are consequences."

By creating a buffer between the person and their device, the Resister Case can be "a call to conscience," without triggering the anxiety a number of people have when they are separated from their phones.

"The 'take the phones away' approach isn't going to work," he said. "That's why the case is a semi-permeable membrane. You can still access it, but it's not easy to access."

Signs of too much screen use

For young children, the research firmly indicates that they should avoid screens as much as possible. They'll get more brain development from playing with a box of sand than they will from using a tablet (yes, even those "toddler tablets").

For older children, the main physical signs of problematic device usage are disrupted sleep patterns (this U.S. study from last year found that teens are getting less sleep than they did before smartphones became commonplace) and unusual moods.

However, in the longer term, we just don't know what these devices are doing to us and our brains, let alone what they're doing to our children's brains, O'Gorman said.

"These are vulnerable communities that we really need to look at very closely when it comes to device usage," he said.

That's why he encourages an "an ecology of use," where we choose when and where it's best to use them.

"You don't have to say no one should be using them, kids shouldn't be using them, but we need to find ways to certainly selectively choose when and where it's best to use them," he said.

Small steps make a difference

By making some small adjustments, parents can help build a digital buffer for their teens.

• Get an old-school analogue clock, so your teens won't need their phone beside their bed.
• Switch devices to greyscale. That takes away all those colour cues that help make the devices to attractive.
• Let the device help you disconnect. Apps like "Flipd," which was created in Toronto, block distractions on your phone and give rewards for time spent away from devices.

Most importantly, talk to your kids about this. Teens aren't oblivious to the impact devices have on their lives. In 2013, MediaSmarts found 35 percent of teens worry they spend too much time online.

They might not use a Resistor Case right now, or to switch their phone to greyscale, but at least the idea is planted. And don't forget to take some similar steps for yourself.