Thousands of Children Sexting
Children as young as 10 are now sexting. This is frightening. The average sexters are 13 and 14 and this is becoming a huge problem. Does it need to be a problem? Shouldn’t we expect more from parents?
kids feel social media companies are failing to protect them
http://www.lep.co.uk/news/offbeat/four-in-five-kids-feel-social-media-companies-are-failing-to-protect-them-1-8517544
College social media course helping students gain control
This is an interesting article about a course offered to medical students at George Washington University. It is a course on social media and the evidence shows that students who have taken the course get a better understanding about social media and become more in control of their social media habits. I think we will be seeing courses like these in middle schools and high schools in the near future. We certainly need them.
https://phys.org/news/2017-03-social-media-impacts-online-behavior.html
Raising Caring Kids
This is great advice from Common Sense Media. Check out Tip # One, Have Meaningful Conversations With Your Kids. This is an important theme in my book, Disconnected, because according to research the average parents spends just 3 1/2 minutes per week in meaningful conversation with their children. Yes, that’s what I said, 3 1/2 minutes per week. Why? Because both parent and child are spending too much time staring at screens.
Why Villanova bans its players from using smartphones
This is a great story that was in the Wall Street Journal. The coach of the defending NCAA champion Villanova mens basketball team collects smartphones and other devices from all of his players the night before a game. Why? Because it keeps them focused on the upcoming game instead of on their Snapchat and Twitter accounts. Plus, it ensures that they get a better night sleep before an upcoming game. Great story!
“Acquired” Anxiety Disorder
Thursday night I gave a lecture to about 100 parents in my community. The title of this lecture is Digitally Distracted: Parenting in the age of Technology. Believe it or not I started giving this lecture in 2009 after I noticed an incredible amount of teenagers being diagnosed with ADHD, even though the average age of diagnoses is eight. After doing a lot of research at the time, I discovered that most of these teens who were given the diagnoses, and often prescribed high-powered stimulant medications, didn’t really have ADHD; they had “Acquired” ADHD. In other words, because they were spending so much time in front of high-powered devices, their brains were changing; their brains had become so dependent on the constant stimulation that electronic devices deliver that it became almost impossible for them to concentrate and focus on a classroom lecture. You can read all about the science behind this in my book, Disconnected.
“Acquired Anxiety Disorder”
Although lot’s of teens are still being misdiagnosed with ADHD the pendulum has swung since my first lecture in 2009. Now I’m seeing an unprecedented amount of kids with major anxiety disorders. This was an important part of my lecture the other night. Do I think this anxiety problem has something to do with the nine-hours per day that the average kids spend staring into a screen? You better believe I do and I make a heck of an argument in my book. If your child suffers from anxiety their are ways to help. Below is an article I contributed to that provides some tips for parents to help reduce their child’s anxiety.
http://www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/1132322/how-to-reduce-parental-anxiety