Bill Shorten urges Australians to turn off their smartphones in digital detox
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Version 0 of 1. Bill Shorten has joined calls for Australians to go on a “48 hour digital detox” and “clean the bloody garage” instead in an effort to ease the stress arising from excessive technology use. Shorten and the chief executive of the Bully Zero Australia Foundation, Oscar Yildiz, suggested switching off technology as they marked the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence on Friday. Yildiz said many people were engaged in social media to the extent that they could not let go. He said they should consider taking a step back and trying a digital detox to raise money for cybersafety education resources and “see what life really was like”. “Whether it’s cooking for mum, whether it’s going for a run, whether it’s actually going outside and kicking the football … we want people to just disengage for 48 hours and do the things you’ve been wanting to do,” Yildiz said. “People don’t realise that in 48 hours over the weekend, you don’t have a lot of time to do the things you want to; go and visit your mum, go and visit your brother, go and say hello to your uncle. Maybe clean the bloody garage that has been waiting to be cleaned.” Shorten – who faced the media with Yildiz in Melbourne – said the advent of Facebook, Twitter, SnapChat and Instagram meant children were not safe from the scourge of cyberbullying at home. The opposition leader said he would “love to try to go on a digital detox for 48 hours” but could probably only manage 24 hours. “Modern Australians don’t need to have their phone by their bed every night,” Shorten said. “Australian adults, they carry their smartphone around with them more closely than they even carry their wallet these days. “Australia will not have a bad day if Australians turn off their social media and just sit down and have a conversation with their family, go out and breathe some air, walk around, play some sport, go and see a band or listen to a concert, go to the park with your family. “A 48-hour digital detox will do more for the mental health of Australians than a lot of other options we’ve got in our busy crowded lives. Taking some time out for yourself and your family is a superb idea, a digital detox is great mental health for all Australians.” The education minister, Christopher Pyne, was due to visit an Adelaide school on Friday afternoon to voice support for the anti-bullying message. The day of action is an initiative of Australian education authorities and began in 2011. |