What happens when our kid's only childhood memory is a screen?
By Cris Rowan
One of our jobs as parents is to create childhood memories that will sustain them through their lifetime; memories that will be told around the camp fire, at weddings, and even at funerals. Memories so beautiful and heart felt they make us smile, laugh, and cry.
Cat Stevens- Where do the children play
Lyrics from a Cat Stevens song illustrate real concerns regarding preserving childhood and play spaces "We've come a long way, we're changing day to day, but tell me
where do the children play?" In the rush to digitalize childhood, society seems to have forgotten critical essential components needed to create a sustainable child. Play spaces where children can run, yell, and be free to imagine other worlds are rapidly deteriorating without so much as a backward glance. Tall swings, long slides and merry-go-rounds were standard equipment in playgrounds of the past, and Toys "R" Us was a birthday and Christmas must. Children use to "play out" until dark and get into adventurous mischief because parents weren't monitoring their every move. Students either biked or walked to school and participated in a vast diversity of after school sports and club activities. Recesses were long and PE teachers ensured they were packed with loads of gym, playground and game-type activities. Children seemed happy...only a 20 years ago, they seemed secure, well adjusted, and on their way to becoming independent adults with bright futures, and - happy memories to sustain them through the tough times. Fast forward to today. Toys "R" Us went belly up after 70 years of providing kids with thrilling toys. Playgrounds are infantile and dilapidated with licencing forced removal of everything fun or challenging. Streets and parks are quiet and deserted. As epidemic levels of obesity climb, kids are dropped off at school where No Child Left Behind initiatives have eliminated PE and decimated recess. When students are allowed recess, they spend their time on mandated BYOD screens...sedentary, inside, alone, and sad. With the onset of video games and social media has come pervasive and escalating child behavior management issues including aggression, depression, anxiety and suicide. As outdoor rough and tumble imaginative play rapidly becomes a thing of the past, society might be wise to consider the following nature and movement-based initiatives to enhance child development, behavior and learning.
Cris Rowan is creating an online training certification in Balanced Technology
Management (BTM) for parents, teachers and clinicians. Parents will be certified BTM Advisors, teachers certified BTM Facilitators, and clinicians certified BTM Instructors.
We'll keep you posted!
Foundation Series Workshop Schedule
July 20, 2019 - San Diego, California
Presentation on impact of technology on brain/body physiology to teens attending Camp Unplugged sponsored by Palomar Christian Conference Center. www.camp-unplugged.com.
Workshop for early intervention providers on balancing screens with healthy activities sponsored by Vancouver Island Center for Child Resource and Referral.
The Screen Solution Workshops will leave you feeling equipped with the tools needed to help you reset your child's screen habits. From video games to smartphones, we'll show you how to make practical changes in your day-to-day life with proven strategies and replacement activities to establish a balanced screen use at different ages.
Electromagnetic Fields Conference 2019 - Diagnosis and Treatment: Effects of Electromagnetic Fields Exposure. The Impact of Today's Wireless Technology
By Susan Scutti May,16 2019 The blue light in LED lighting that is increasingly used in our homes can damage the eye's retina while disturbing our biological and sleep rhythms, a French health authority warned in a new report.
By Benjamin Herold April 24, 2019 Despite continued hype, K-12 educators remain sceptical that new technologies will transform public schooling or dramatically improve teaching and learning.
By Lousi-Phillipe Beland and Richard Murphy May 2015 CEP Discussion Paper No 1350
By surveying schools in four English cities regarding their mobile phone policies and combining it with administrative data, this study finds that student performance in high stakes exams significantly increases post ban.
A war on schools, teachers, and children threatens to create a Zombie nation in the United States. We need to "connect the dots" and fight back if we want to prevent this miseducation future.
By Catherine Talarico and Christina Chu March 2016
This 2016 paper, raises awareness regarding the serious consequences the overuse of classroom technology can have on our children's health and education.
Experts in child development say the acquisition of language and social skills, typically by interacting with parents and others, are among the most important cognitive tasks of childhood.
By Jonathan A. Tran, Katherine S. Yang, Katie Davis, Alexis Hiniker May 2
Many smartphone users engage in compulsive and habitual phone checking they fnd frustrating, yet our understanding of how this phenomenon is experienced is limited. This study of 39 smartphone users (ages 14-64) probed their experiences with compulsive phone checking.
A Bible-based teaching on thoughts, behaviors, and problems with excessive use of entertainment digital media: streaming videos, smartphones, social media, video games, and pornography.
A 2017 study found that how children use the devices, not how much time they spend on them, is the strongest predictor of emotional or social problems connected with screen addiction. This held true after researchers controlled for screen time.
This two-hour expert forum explains the biological effects on our children from wireless radiation in our schools. Link includes YouTube video, PowerPoint presentation and many supporting documents.
Children and Youth with Neuro-diverse Special Needs Committee needs your input
The public has been given an opportunity to speak before the British Columbia Select Committee on Children and Youth with Neuro-diverse (e.g.: ASD, FASD, Developmental Delay) special needs and how the assessment and eligibility processes can be improved. This opens up an opportunity for parents to express their concerns about the biological effects of electromagnetic fields and the association of the neurological and psychological health effects children are experiencing in our classrooms.
Teachers are concerned that the classrooms are in a crisis, with verbal, physical, sometimes-violent outbursts in our Elementary School settings. Suicide, anxiety, depression, self-harm, autism, ADHD, and other developmental delays are on the rise and seem to coincide with the installation of wireless technology in our schools.
Please submit a letter or video to the Parliamentary Committee by June 7, 2019 confirming the growing evidence of neurological effects and developmental delays from wireless technology that can no longer be ignored.
Special Project on Children and Youth with Neuro-diverse Special Needs
Sedentary, neglected, isolated, and overstimulated, the new millennium child can no longer pay attention and learn. Zone'in Programs are designed by an occupational therapist to enhance child development and learning, ensuring successful futures.
Virtual Child - The terrifying truth about what technology is doing to children
By Cris Rowan, pediatric occupational therapist.
Virtual Child documents the impact technology has had on the developing child, and proposes tools and techniques to manage balance between activities children need for growth and success with technology use.
Cris Rowan is a pediatric occupational therapist committed to enhancing child health and academic performance. Well known activist, speaker, sensory specialist and author, Cris is the "Go To" expert on child learning, development and technology overuse. Cris has provided over 200 workshops for health and education professionals, and is currently developing the Creating Sustainable Futures Program for a First Nations Community.
Training & Consultation
Training
Instructor training for Foundation Series Workshops places pediatric occupational therapists on the cutting edge as experts in the field of technology's impact on child development.
Zone'in Programs Inc. and Cris Rowan are seeking your support and assistance to ensure sustainable and productive futures for our children. Find out more about how you can help us!
