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Quote of the Week
"Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life!" -- Albert Einstein
Why Screens Compromise Development
"We all have complicated relationships with our screens. They're indispensable tools in our modern lives. And yet there is a cost to screen usage that most of us try to avoid acknowledging. Research consistently demonstrates that the more we use screens, the more negative the effect on our brains and bodies. Social media usage in particular can be a mental health risk factor, especially for vulnerable populations like preteen and teen girls. In children, screens change the brain by shortening the attention span. And at all ages, screens offer a dopamine hit that can become addictive. In this interview, Dr. Laura Markham discusses the impact of screens on children's emotional and academic development."
With summer vacation in progress in many parts of the world, thoughtful use of screen time can become a hot topic of conversation among parents and educators alike. We hope this week's feature sheds insight on how to strike a balance and ultimately do what's best for our kids with respect to limiting screen time. [Read Article]
Reading Corner
Title: Glow Kids
By: Nicholas Kardaras
Stages: All ages
"We've all seen them: kids hypnotically staring at glowing screens in restaurants, in playgrounds and in friends' houses and the numbers are growing. Like a virtual scourge, the illuminated glowing faces - the Glow Kids - are multiplying. But at what cost? Is this just a harmless indulgence or fad like some sort of digital hula-hoop? Some say that glowing screens might even be good for kids - a form of interactive educational tool. Don't believe it.
In Glow Kids, Dr. Nicholas Kardaras will examine how technology - more specifically, age inappropriate screen tech, with all of its glowing ubiquity has profoundly affected the brains of an entire generation. Brain imaging research is showing that stimulating glowing screens are as dopaminergic (dopamine activating) to the brain's pleasure centre as sex. And a growing mountain of clinical research correlates screen tech with disorders like ADHD, addiction, anxiety, depression, increased aggression, and even psychosis.
Most shocking of all, recent brain imaging studies conclusively show that excessive screen exposure can neurologically damage a young person's developing brain in the same way that cocaine addiction can. Kardaras will dive into the sociological, psychological, cultural, and economic factors involved in the global tech epidemic with one major goal: to explore the effect all of our wonderful shiny new technology is having on kids." -- Publisher
Recommended by Kindful Kids Editors
Be The Change
If you need ideas for screen-free fun during summer break, check out this blog featuring 101 fun activity ideas that don't involve screens!
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