Over 2,200 hours is what the average person spends on digital media each year. That is six hours a day, every day. For some it is less, for others it is much more.
Does this time bring someone closer to Christ? For many, the answer is emphatically, “No.”
Moreover, today’s digital media is tuned with the intention of keeping each of us engaged. This digital crack is formulated by an algorithmic chemist to customize the addiction. Every newsfeed, tik-toc video, and link are crafted just for us.
To make matters worse, very sinful agendas are often injected into our customized media. As I have written before, why would a middle age married man streaming a family television show need to have a drug advertised to him to treat homosexually transmitted diseases? Could it be that the ad placement was to introduce my children to homosexual behaviors through the images accompanying the advertisement?
Sometimes the normalization of sin is injected in the media overtly as in the drug advertisement just mentioned. Other times, it is subtle, such as in the posters in the background of a video short.
In some cases, a person who is pure of heart is slowly corrupted. Each swipe is a decision to accept or reject media being pushed to us. An innocent short video of some girl falling into a pool can progressively lead to suggestive content and then continue until an addiction is firmly established.
Retaking 2,200 Hours
How does one combat this incessant barrage pushed to each of us? How does one retake these 2,200 hours?
I believe the first step is to understand exactly how much time one is losing to media. Ironically, most phones have an included app to track how much time is spent on media. I suspect most people would be surprised to find how much of their lives are being squandered in the digital world.
If one is not happy with the amount of time they or their family members are spending on media, I would like to offer a series of ideas to take back the lost time.
The Weight of One Hour a Week
Pushing back on the 2,200 hours needs deliberate steps. Take one hour a week, for instance. What is a single hour worth each week? The answer is 52 hours or 2.4 percent of the 2,200 hours.
To put this into perspective, saying the rosary as a family for 20 minutes every week is not even one percent of the 2,200 hours.
Embracing Weekly Activities
Weekly mass or adoration would make a 2.4 percent impact on the 2,200 hours. However, weekly activities do not need to be Catholic focused to take back time from media.
A family game night lasting an hour and half each week would put a 3.5 percent dent in the 2,200 hours. There are a multitude of affordable family board and card games available. One need not break the bank when it comes to these games either. I have picked up some excellent games from secondhand shops.
Movie Night
Holding a movie night would take even more at 4.7 percent. Of course, the movie selection is important. My youngest and I have found watching old movies that focus on character is a way to bond. And keep in mind that an old movie is really a new movie if you have not seen it before. The following list of 20 movies, for example, focus on character:
- The Agony and the Ecstasy
- Becket
- The Belles of St. Mary
- Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
- Boys Town
- Captain Courageous
- It’s a Wonderful Life
- Jesus of Nazareth
- The Lion in Winter
- Lilies of the Field
- Man for All Seasons
- The Mission
- The Passion of the Christ
- Pope John Paul II
- The Quiet Man
- The Scarlet and the Black
- The Silver Chalice
- Song of Bernadette
- The Sound of Music
- The Trouble with Angels
And there are even some action movies (that can be viewed by those over 13 years of age) that also focus on character. Some examples are:
- Sargent York
- Twelve O’clock High
- Bridge on the River Kwai
- The Great Escape
- Hacksaw Ridge
- The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence
If you watch one every two weeks, this list will take a year to complete.
The most impactful weekly activity I can suggest is to take one day a week and fast from digital media all together. Giving up six hours of media one day per week (I would suggest the Sabbath) adds up to 312 hours taken back a year. That is nearly 15 percent of the 2,200 hours.
Some Daily Activities
Although weekly activities can cut into the time lost on media, a daily shift is needed to really chip away at a digital addiction.
One way to start small is to say the Angelus three times a day. Since I do not live near a bell tower, I have my phone alarm set to go off three times a day as a reminder. This simple 3-minute prayer adds up to 55 hours a year taking back 2.5 percent of the 2,200 hours.
Daily rosary and daily mass can each take back around eight percent. And simply replacing pop music with Christian music is worth about eight percent of the 2,200 hours. The same can be said for abstaining from media 30 minutes before going to sleep.
Why not replace establishment news with Catholic-friendly news? Here are links to just a few of the many sites that offer Catholic/Christian-friendly news.
Daily News | New Oxford Review
If you shift an hour a day from secular to Catholic friendly news, the impact is 16 percent on the 2,200 hours.
But the most impactful daily recommendation I can offer is a family meal for one hour. Eat together without phones, or the TV on, or the radio! Ideally the meal should be at home around the kitchen table. However, there’s also nothing wrong with eating together in the bleachers at a ballpark, or tail gating in the parking lot before dance practice. The point is to eat together and actually talk.
Exploit Your 2 Most Useful Weapons
These weekly and daily activities are just some suggested ideas. However, I also want to recommend exploiting two very useful weapons: your finger and your voice.
You have the power to turn off media. If a comedian cannot finish a sentence without using foul language, switch the channel. If a pride commercial comes on (as in pride of homosexual sin), turn off the TV. And if a couple is shown in bed outside of marriage, stop inviting them into your home.
If your kids keep logging onto media in the middle of the night, unplug the router. Kids survived for thousands of years without a smart phone, they can survive without one today. You can control the off switch.
Of course, these images, and their underlying message, may have already made their way into your house. As a parent (or even a grandparent), your job is to set the record straight. It may be something as simple as, “Hey kids, I turned that off because those two were shacking up outside of marriage. That’s wrong and I don’t want you getting the impression that it’s alright because it’s on TV.” The challenge will be to do it not just once, but every time. The world does it continuously. Your counter has to be just as incessant.
Start with Yourself
It should be obvious that your children are not going to be the ones to initiate a struggle to take back 2,200 hours from the media. Parents and grandparents must take on the role and lead. And ultimately, you must start with yourself.
2 thoughts on “Fighting Digital Media and Retaking 2,200 Hours”
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Fine article! However, some of us need help in fighting addiction to media, internet and technology. There 12 Step organizations that can help with such: ITAA (Internet Technology Addicts Anonymous) and MA (Media Addicts Anonymous). I won’t put the links to the sites here, because that will ban my comment, but they helpful to me, in fighting my own unhealthy attachments.