We'll be offline for a while - a self-experiment

The children are in bed, the housework is done, the last emails have been answered - it's time to get online. And two hours later, you get up from the couch, empty and lazy. Let's be honest: what do we do when we have nothing to do? Our hands reliably and quickly find something to do. They automatically reach for the flickering thing, directly connected to the brain's happiness centre.

On average, we press, swipe and tap the screen 2617 times a day - and receive a small dose of happiness in return , just enough to keep us going. The figure comes from the US market research institute dscout and is from 2016. «Internetising» is the popular term. «Stop it!» say those responsible for addiction prevention in some cantons, and for a whole week. Is that really possible?

Flicker break for a week

The project is called «Flimmerpause» and schools throughout German-speaking Switzerland take part. The «Akzent Prävention und Suchttherapie» specialist centre in Lucerne developed the project in 2006 and has held a flicker break every year since then. Since then, more than 2000 participants throughout Central Switzerland have taken part in the programme.

The rules are simple: no entertainment on the screen for a week during free time. The week is aimed at children from kindergarten to sixth grade. It is particularly important for them to become aware of how to deal with screens, says Brigitte Waldis, «Flimmerpause» officer at the Akzent Lucerne prevention centre. Children should be able to experience this at an early age: You can do without digital media. But anyone who thinks you can ban children from using screens and carry on as usual is mistaken: the flicker break is above all a test for parents.

This is also the case for the Rohrer family. Rilana Rohrer and her husband Thomas live with their children Jana, 9, and Severin, 7, in Ermensee in the Lucerne Seetal, in a terraced house with a garden, trampoline and a swing. When you stroll through Ermensee, it smells of freshly sawn wood, there are toys lying around on the neighbourhood paths and you can go swimming in Lake Hallwil or Lake Baldegg, both of which are within walking distance. Jana rides a small pony in her free time, does gymnastics like Severin, plays the guitar and dances. Severin plays football for FC Hitzkirch.

They don't have a «screen problem», say the parents. Nevertheless, the family takes part, as does their children's entire school. I, the journalist, also join in and keep my hands off digital media after work. Will that work?

Day 1: State of emergency

«One of my class sat down in front of the TV on Monday morning before the first lesson so that he could get through the week,» says Severin. Such is the respect for screen-free time among the primary school pupils. The first day is not easy for Severin either. «It's much harder when you know you're not allowed to watch TV,» he says. «Otherwise it wouldn't be a problem.» Luckily it's summer. In winter, it would be more difficult to keep the children entertained without a screen, says Rilana. The parents like to switch on the box in the evening, and there are also three computers and a tablet.

You have to get used to not simply switching on the TV or looking something up on the Internet on a free evening.

Rilana Rohrer

The kids mainly want to game and watch YouTube. They are usually allowed to do that twice a week, for twenty minutes each time. «Or sometimes for an hour,» says Jana and laughs. She herself watches baking instructions and, of course, music videos on YouTube. «I'm glad that the screen isn't a fixed ritual in our everyday life,» says Rilana, «I know some families for whom a short animated film is part of the ritual before going to bed - so of course it's difficult to abstain from screens.»

The change is not easy for the parents either. «You have to get used to not simply switching on the TV or looking something up on the internet on a free evening,» says Rilana. They go to bed unusually early on the first evening.

My flicker break diary: I feel the same way. What do you do when you can't cope with everyday life digitally after an eventful day? Read a book? Wander restlessly around the flat three times and then lie down for lack of alternatives? Must be enough to get you started.

Day 2: The alternative

However, the «flicker break» families are not sent into the entertainment desert without a plan. There is an alternative programme to the screen ban: «The parents' forum organised an information evening with the school,» says Rilana, who is involved in the group, «to give the parents ideas.» Ideas for games, leisure activities, nothing out of the ordinary. «Digital media are simply part of everyday family life,» says Rilana. «We have to actively look for alternatives.»

Severin's football friend drops out on the second day due to nausea - what now? His mother finds the answer in the form of an animal colouring book. Severin paints several animal artworks this week.

My flicker break diary: I reflexively pick up my tablet five times and put it down again five times. A new feeling for the evening sets in. Without a screen, two hours take a really long time. Instead of screenlessness, I feel: tiredness. The only unread reading material in the house: cookery books. Learned something about sausages. Then I fall asleep.

Day 3: Already routine

Slowly, stories of children who didn't stick it out are doing the rounds at school. The boy who watched his animated film «on reserve» is one of them. Some in Jana's class have also dropped out, she says: «It's hard when the TV is on every lunchtime at home.» Rilana says: «It would actually be important for the parents to take a break too.»

Neither Severin nor Jana have a smartphone. Jana had one without a SIM card until it broke. «We know that it's only a matter of time before the children have their own smartphone,» says Thomas. «That can't be avoided. That's why it's important for us to practise going without it now.» Rilana has a similar view: «The flicker break helps us to become aware of how often we look at the screen - it happens automatically in everyday life.»

Severin and Jana can move freely on the Internet.

The children can go online independently. «We don't have a block on the internet. We want our children to talk to us about everything,» says Rilana. Severin and Jana can move around freely - even on the internet. «If they come across something they find strange, they show it to us.»

My flicker break diary: once I've achieved it, being flicker-free feels like the exhausted serenity after a round of sport, somehow good. Nevertheless, just like when I stopped smoking, I go to the fridge more often as a substitute for the addictive substance. That's revealing. It begs the question as to why I got into the habit of seeking relaxation on the internet in the first place.

Day 4: Almost done

The Rohrers say that the break is important to them, although screen consumption does not otherwise take away any of their enjoyment of life. «I can well imagine doing this once a year,» says Rilana. «It's good for us as a couple too: we've socialised more in the evenings. We've also done more together as a family.»

My flicker break diary: fell into bed tired in the evening. I was travelling today and had no reception in the meantime. That doesn't bother me. The need has completely disappeared.

Day 5: The relapse

And then the week is already over. «We finished the flicker break at school this morning,» says Jana. «Of course, we could carry on over the weekend ... and that's what we'll do. It's nice weather!» says Rilana. Only Severin grumbles: «But I can watch my series then, can't I?»

My flicker break diary: the experiment paid off for the Rohrer family. For me too. But in the evening, I find myself on the couch with my tablet. My hands have automatically snapped shut. It feels uncomfortable. But that's how it is with an addiction: The desire increases, the pleasure decreases. But you can switch off the screen. Even for a whole week. That works. Really.