Rabbi Suggests Fostering Love of Reading to Combat Screen Time
Translated & summarized from Arutz Sheva by baba
Rabbi Yona Goodman, educational director of Bnei Akiva Yeshivot, offered a simple solution for parents concerned about children's screen time. He advocates for fostering a love of reading physical books as a positive alternative to screen engagement. Goodman suggests parents lead by example and create a home environment that encourages reading, thereby reducing problematic screen use and exposing children to beneficial content.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Rabbi Yona Goodman suggests fostering a love of reading to reduce children's screen time.
- He advises parents to encourage reading physical books, not just digital ones.
- Goodman believes parents should lead by example and discuss books at home.
- Creating a reading-friendly environment benefits children's content exposure.
- This approach aims to reduce problematic screen usage.
Rabbi Yona Goodman, the educational director of the Bnei Akiva Yeshivot and Ulpanot Center, has proposed a simple educational approach for parents struggling with their children's excessive screen time. In a new video column for Channel 7, Goodman suggests that instead of focusing on prohibitions and restrictions, parents should actively cultivate a love for reading in their children.
Goodman argues that encouraging children to read physical books, not just on Shabbat, is a positive way to reduce the hours spent on screens. "Education, as strange as it may sound, for the love of reading. Education for reading books, I mean, not digital books," he stated. He believes that the more children are accustomed to wanting to read, the less time they will dedicate to screens.
He emphasizes that parents play a crucial role in establishing reading habits at home. This includes setting a personal example, discussing books during family meals, recommending books to children, and ensuring books are present in the home. "Increase reading yourselves, encourage your children, recommend a book to them, talk about a book at the meal, bring books into the home," Goodman advised.
According to Rabbi Goodman, creating a home environment that promotes reading benefits children in two ways: it exposes them to valuable content through books and simultaneously reduces their engagement with problematic content and excessive screen usage. He concludes that this approach fosters a positive environment that is beneficial both in terms of the content consumed and in mitigating the downsides of excessive screen use.