Watch For Those Tricky Kids

It can be difficult to pull oneself away from television screens, computers, and phones. There are simply too many distractions, and it can have some serious consequences. I, for one, use these devices to procrastinate on the work I need to complete for class. I could easily get the work done if I would just get off of the internet. My levels of procrastination for class aren't the only things affected by these black mirrors. While I waste my time on sites like Tumblr and Youtube, I could be exercising and losing weight. I am actually obese and my actions of playing on the computer all night have only worked to worsen my weight. The only exercise I seem to get is when I’m walking from class to class, and that’s barely anything at all.

However, I am not the only one ensnared by these technologies. People of all ages find it hard to avert their attention away from electronics like them. The number of people who are obese had been rapidly increasing over the years, and this trend could be partly caused by televisions, phones, and computers. Since people are so engrossed in their phones, they don’t take the time to get out and exercise, and they might even be more likely to reach for meals that are unhealthy but faster to make than healthy meals.

WatchIt! is both a wristband and an app that hopes to combat obesity in adolescents and children. The app blocks the use of six of the most used apps until the user has exercised a certain amount, or walked a certain distance. It calculates this distance with the watch, which sends the information to the phone. The watch is colorful to attract the attention of small children, but it is my belief that this could be used for almost any age. If adults used it for their own purposes rather than the child’s, they could be able to change the setting, so they wouldn’t have to do the work. However, it would give them more incentive to stay off their phones and get the exercise they need. I also believe that this watch and app could somehow be transferred to computers and televisions. 

My only real concern for the device is that it only blocks up to six apps. I don’t know if the app could differentiate between games that children play on their phones and apps that might actually be necessary to them. I also know that children can be terribly clever, with emphases on terrible. I could easily imagine a situation where a kid might have multiple apps that he might play on until the app considers it to be the one they are on the most, and then that kid will just go to play on a different app until the same thing happens. It could be an endless loop if they have enough apps. I think that problem needs to be addressed more.