Parents, beware. There is a new game in town and it’s called the eraser game. And it’s spreading through social media like wildfire. Read the article below.
http://nypost.com/2017/03/16/this-new-social-media-game-is-terrifying-parents/
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!
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
This is an article outlining what I discussed at my lecture last night, helping parents to gain control in the digital age.