Just 10 more minutes...what millions have begged for while awaiting their deaths. Or, another hour, another day, another week, another month, another year...to do what?
Seems like ADHD and screen use is a chicken/egg situation. One feeds the other. I suspect kids with ADHD have an outsized influence on what other kids do when it comes to screens and once the ball starts rolling everyone is involved.
I agree with what Australia is trying to do and hope it works, but I suspect it is far too late. Time will tell.
The summer camp that my kids attended, and eventually worked at in HS, has a cell phone ban for everyone while on the property. The Directors and Division Leaders carry walkie-talkies when out on the property, and the Directors do have access to their cells when in their office, but it is rare that they are ever in the office when the kids are out on the property.
Each employee signs a document stating that they understand the rules and the consequences for breaking them. It's no joke and there are no second chances for being caught with your cell while you're supposed to be watching other peoples' kids.
What came out of banning cells on camp property? Less fights. More activity: The kids get to choose from a list of about 99 different things each week for the following week. The older kids get field trips too.
When the camp opened up registration to kids with limited special needs about 4 years ago, they were put into the groups with the kids who need no accommodations. Know what happened there? Kids learned patience and found their capacity for compassion. They walk a little slower for the kids who can't keep up. Some choose to swim in the shallow end with the kids who didn't pass the deep water test. They learn about their group mates' texture issues and don't make fun if they show up for the camp sleepover with a weird blanket or inside out pajamas. They make friends with kids who are not like them.
Cell phones and social media have stripped humans of their ability to show compassion and offer grace to those who don't present themselves in a way that jives with the norms or the mob mentality. The biggest change that I've seen is that people are so impatient now. Instant gratification rules everything. The future is pretty scary when we stop to realize that this stuff is still in its infancy. What will our kids brains look like a decade from now? 2 decades? Ugh...
Well said! I heard of a small women’s college that does not allow smartphones. The give students a flip phone that only offer calling and text functions. The results were just as you described at summer camp.
That’s wild but not really a surprise. I saw the zombification of a friend’s grandchild who had been given a phone at an extremely early age. I have no idea how the child ever got along in school but I do know she was incapable of interacting with others in her environment because she always had that electronic babysitter with her. I’m just glad I don’t have kids to worry about now; grandchildren either.
I taught right out of college and then went into the design field. Upon leaving my job, I decided to “go back to teaching”-something I enjoyed but had thought of as a fall back situation.
I noticed a huge difference in attention spans and communication skills among my students. Some groups were all over the place-had lack of focus, inability to sit still, trouble following directions. At first I thought it was a discipline problem, the kind of problem I had never had with kids. Was it the new laissez-faire attitude of parents? Were they just too busy to engage their kids at home? Did they care? Were they too exhausted, some holding down several jobs? Was it the new freedom of expression or was it just the easy way? I agree with you, Bill, taking responsibility for this possible brain and social deficit is very very hard, but setting up a schedule and actually doing something about it is genius. As you say, it is called parenting, it’s not being mean; just the opposite. It is love.
I dislike the generalization of screentime. I used to have subscriptions or buy magazines and newspapers like Motor Trend, NW Gardening, Newsweek, News Tribune, Woodworker, listen to music and read a lot of books - all of which I now do on screen time.
I would suggest content is king. Learning how to gossip/consume/indulge or learning how to think/create/produce are two entirely different tracks for exploration and screen time.
You are correct. The term screen time is to often used like Channel Locks of Zerox. With kids it’s all social media.
With some adults - such as yourself - it is an electronic way to consume what was formerly print. I read 3 newspapers, Apple News and several magazines daily. Still can’t wrap my head around reading books as long as the local library is robust.
Caught the You Tube video about the 88 yr old gentleman who always still working, in debt and who did actually get the payout. Was glad to see it wasn’t a scam. He’s not the only one for whom money has been raised either.
Absolutley brilliant breakdown of that Fukui study. The cortical thickness finding is the part that sticks with me becuase it points to something structural, not just behavioral symptoms that might fade. Delayed maturation in frontal regions during that 9-12 window could have ripple effects on executive function developmet later on. Wonder if longitudinal data would show any catch-up or if early exposure sets a baseline that persists into adolescence.
Just 10 more minutes...what millions have begged for while awaiting their deaths. Or, another hour, another day, another week, another month, another year...to do what?
breath...see my bride, tell her I love her...go for a walk...live...breath
https://frankgeorge8675309.substack.com/p/dammit-its-not-alzheimers-heres-why-c9f
Seems like ADHD and screen use is a chicken/egg situation. One feeds the other. I suspect kids with ADHD have an outsized influence on what other kids do when it comes to screens and once the ball starts rolling everyone is involved.
I agree with what Australia is trying to do and hope it works, but I suspect it is far too late. Time will tell.
The summer camp that my kids attended, and eventually worked at in HS, has a cell phone ban for everyone while on the property. The Directors and Division Leaders carry walkie-talkies when out on the property, and the Directors do have access to their cells when in their office, but it is rare that they are ever in the office when the kids are out on the property.
Each employee signs a document stating that they understand the rules and the consequences for breaking them. It's no joke and there are no second chances for being caught with your cell while you're supposed to be watching other peoples' kids.
What came out of banning cells on camp property? Less fights. More activity: The kids get to choose from a list of about 99 different things each week for the following week. The older kids get field trips too.
When the camp opened up registration to kids with limited special needs about 4 years ago, they were put into the groups with the kids who need no accommodations. Know what happened there? Kids learned patience and found their capacity for compassion. They walk a little slower for the kids who can't keep up. Some choose to swim in the shallow end with the kids who didn't pass the deep water test. They learn about their group mates' texture issues and don't make fun if they show up for the camp sleepover with a weird blanket or inside out pajamas. They make friends with kids who are not like them.
Cell phones and social media have stripped humans of their ability to show compassion and offer grace to those who don't present themselves in a way that jives with the norms or the mob mentality. The biggest change that I've seen is that people are so impatient now. Instant gratification rules everything. The future is pretty scary when we stop to realize that this stuff is still in its infancy. What will our kids brains look like a decade from now? 2 decades? Ugh...
Thank God we still have summer camp.
Well said! I heard of a small women’s college that does not allow smartphones. The give students a flip phone that only offer calling and text functions. The results were just as you described at summer camp.
That’s wild but not really a surprise. I saw the zombification of a friend’s grandchild who had been given a phone at an extremely early age. I have no idea how the child ever got along in school but I do know she was incapable of interacting with others in her environment because she always had that electronic babysitter with her. I’m just glad I don’t have kids to worry about now; grandchildren either.
I taught right out of college and then went into the design field. Upon leaving my job, I decided to “go back to teaching”-something I enjoyed but had thought of as a fall back situation.
I noticed a huge difference in attention spans and communication skills among my students. Some groups were all over the place-had lack of focus, inability to sit still, trouble following directions. At first I thought it was a discipline problem, the kind of problem I had never had with kids. Was it the new laissez-faire attitude of parents? Were they just too busy to engage their kids at home? Did they care? Were they too exhausted, some holding down several jobs? Was it the new freedom of expression or was it just the easy way? I agree with you, Bill, taking responsibility for this possible brain and social deficit is very very hard, but setting up a schedule and actually doing something about it is genius. As you say, it is called parenting, it’s not being mean; just the opposite. It is love.
I dislike the generalization of screentime. I used to have subscriptions or buy magazines and newspapers like Motor Trend, NW Gardening, Newsweek, News Tribune, Woodworker, listen to music and read a lot of books - all of which I now do on screen time.
I would suggest content is king. Learning how to gossip/consume/indulge or learning how to think/create/produce are two entirely different tracks for exploration and screen time.
You are correct. The term screen time is to often used like Channel Locks of Zerox. With kids it’s all social media.
With some adults - such as yourself - it is an electronic way to consume what was formerly print. I read 3 newspapers, Apple News and several magazines daily. Still can’t wrap my head around reading books as long as the local library is robust.
Judd Legum did a Substack about the Paramount deal too. https://open.substack.com/pub/popularinformation/p/kushner-and-saudis-back-hostile-takeover?r=np4n&utm_medium=ios
Caught the You Tube video about the 88 yr old gentleman who always still working, in debt and who did actually get the payout. Was glad to see it wasn’t a scam. He’s not the only one for whom money has been raised either.
Absolutley brilliant breakdown of that Fukui study. The cortical thickness finding is the part that sticks with me becuase it points to something structural, not just behavioral symptoms that might fade. Delayed maturation in frontal regions during that 9-12 window could have ripple effects on executive function developmet later on. Wonder if longitudinal data would show any catch-up or if early exposure sets a baseline that persists into adolescence.