A total of 140 interested parents and teachers came to the auditorium of the Carl Schaefer School in Ludwigsburg for the Ludwigsburg district education region's lecture evening. Daniel Meyer, head of the "Schools and Culture" department at the Ludwigsburg district office, emphasized the importance of the topic in his welcoming address: "The media are having an increasing influence on our children's lives. Everyone knows these situations when children sit spellbound in front of the TV and are no longer responsive or when two-year-olds are already swiping over their parents' smartphones."
The parents, educators and teachers enjoyed an entertaining and informative evening. The Brüning couple conveyed their messages to their audience, sometimes in a cabaret style and with numerous practical examples, in which the audience was also repeatedly involved. Nevertheless, their messages left no doubt as to how important the topic is. "Being open-minded about new media and limiting your children's consumption - that goes very well together," emphasized Wilfried Brüning right at the start. "This is the only way our children can later determine the media instead of being determined by it."
Astrid Brüning surprised the audience with the example of the leading IT experts in Silicon Valley, the global center of digital progress. It is no coincidence that they prefer to send their offspring to Waldorf schools, where the focus is on sensory rather than virtual perception. Bill Gates (Microsoft) or the late Steve Jobs (Apple) would not have allowed their children to own a smartphone or use digital games, as they were convinced that their children first had to become capable of living in the real world in order to be able to become media-savvy afterwards.
The dangerous thing about digital games is that success there does not require effort, perseverance, concentration and dealing with frustration, as it does in the real world. Digital games are designed in such a way that the different levels allow everyone to achieve quick successes that they want to experience again and again, just like a drug. "The body's own reward system releases dopamine very frequently and excessively. If your child is intoxicated by having reached the next level, they will want this high again and again," warned Brüning.
"If you are going to use media, then please use media actively and not passively," pleaded the Brünings. It doesn't matter whether it's taking digital photos and editing them, making your own short film or researching a topic on the internet. Only their own active and creative activities promote children's development in a positive way. However, they also called on parents to give their children more freedom and trust when discovering the real world: "There used to be an adventure behind every tree, but today there is a parent behind every tree. This is not the way to get children excited about playing outdoors."
