Digital detox for children
给孩子们进行电子产品"排毒"
Children are hooked on computers. Some spend up to six hours a day on their gadgets. They can be playing games live with others elsewhere in the world, updating their status on social media, texting friends or looking for the latest app to download to their tablets or smartphones.
孩子们沉迷电脑，他们当中一部分人每天花六个小时玩电脑。他们可以和世界其他地方的人一起玩游戏，可以在社交媒体上更新状态，可以给朋友发短信，或者下载最新的应用程序到自己的平板电脑或智能手机上。
This worried Martin Strott. He's the headmaster of the Old Hall School in Wellington, in the west of England. He was so concerned that he challenged his students to take part in a week of 'digital detox'.
英格兰西部惠灵顿老霍尔学校的校长马丁·斯特洛特对此表示担忧。他非常担心，于是要求学生参加为期一周的“数字排毒”活动。
Strott told the local newspaper, the Shropshire Star, that he encourages the pupils to be computer-savvy from a young age, but is concerned that too much screen time will affect the development of their social skills. He said that this over-reliance on digital devices "erodes family time and they're missing out on messages from body language and facial expressions from those around them".
斯特洛特在接受当地报纸《什罗普郡星报》采访时说，他鼓励学生们从小就熟悉电脑，但他担心过多的屏幕时间会影响他们社交能力的发展。他表示，这种对数字设备的过度依赖“侵蚀了家庭时间，忽略了身边人身体语言和面部表情表达的信息”。
According to the headmaster, the parents are happy with the initiative. But what about the children? Nine-year-old Fred usually spends around two hours on his gadgets at home after school and around 12 hours on weekends. For him, the digital detox experience was "really hard". Fred spent it playing outside, especially cricket. He said that he'll probably engage in different activities from now on but he did miss his phone and online games.
据校长说，家长们对这一举措很满意。但是孩子们呢？9岁的弗雷德放学后通常会在家里花两个小时左右的时间玩电子产品，这一时间在周末大约是12个小时。对他来说，这项“数字排毒”活动“真的很痛苦”。在这期间他会外出玩耍，他尤其喜欢打板球。他表示自己从现在开始可能会多参加不同的活动，但他确实很想念他的手机和网络游戏。
The idea of keeping children away from their tech for a while to prevent 'addiction' is not particularly new. There have been similar initiatives in the US. But are they effective in the long run? Well, even if kids go back to their gadgets, the hope is that at least they'll think about how they use their time.
让孩子暂时远离科技产品以防止“上瘾”的做法并不新鲜，美国也有类似的举措。但从长远来看，这能有效吗？好吧，即使孩子们再次开始玩电子产品，希望他们至少能安排好使用时间。
What about you: do you spend too many hours hooked on your digital devices?
你呢：你是否也花太多时间沉迷于电子产品？
词汇表
to be hooked on
痴迷于做某事
a gadget
（常指新的科技）产品
to update (their) status
更新他们的状态
to text
发短信
an app
应用程序
to download
下载
a tablet
平板电脑
a smartphone
智能电话
the headmaster
校长
detox
排毒
computer-savvy
精通电脑的
social skills
社交技能
a device
设备，设置
cricket
英式板球
tech
科技
an addiction
着迷，嗜好