By Cris Rowan

The recent rise in mass school shootings has resulted in a singular focus on the implement of destruction...guns. While gun control requires attention, as well as eventual legislation and regulation, gun control alone will not stop the escalating incidence of mass school shootings. Careful analysis of multiple factors contributing to mass shootings is urgent and long overdue. This article intends to review data showing four commonalities of recent mass shooters, and review research which identifies video games and psychotropic medication as salient determinants in compiling the profile of a mass shooter. This article includes the School Mass Shooter Risk Inventory to provide important data for educators, health professionals and social service personal to quantify risk indicators for school mass shooters. The School Mass Shooter Risk Inventory should be considered as a prevention and intervention tool to improve school safety for staff and students. Only when government assigns responsibility and liability to the video gaming and pharmaceutical industries for school mass shootings, will the incidence of these horrific events begin to abate.


Center for Humane Technology


Newly launched Center for Humane Technology is a world-class team of deeply concerned former tech insiders and CEOs who intimately understand the culture, business incentives, design techniques, and organizational structures driving how technology hijacks our minds.

Center for Humane Technology website has examples of simple changes to live more intentionally with your device and "take control of your phone"


Speed Limits: Where Time Went and Why We Have So Little Left

By Mark C. Taylor


We live in an ever-accelerating world: faster computers, markets, food,  fashion, product cycles, minds, bodies, kids, lives. When did everything  start moving so fast? Why does speed seem so inevitable? Is faster always  better?

By showing how the phenomenon of speed has emerged, Taylor offers us a chance to see our pace of life as the product of specific ideas, practices and policies. It's not inevitable or irreversible. He courageously and movingly invites us to imagine how we might patiently work toward a more deliberative life and sustainable world.

Order the book at Amazon here.


Foundation Series Workshop Schedule

April 20, 2018 - Boston, Massachusetts
Cris will be presenting workshop on impact of technology on children at Children's Screen Time Network international conference.
Contact person: Jean Rogers, 617-896-9377,  jean@commericalfreechildhood.org
 
May 8, 2018 Winnipeg, Manitoba
Workshop for early childhood educators and health professionals on impact of technology on children sponsored by Healthy Child Manitoba.
Contact person:  Shannon Dennehy, 204-945-3610,   Shannon Dennehy@gov.mb.ca

October 15-18, 2018 - Long Island, New York
Digital Media and Developing Minds - second national congress and Exposition by  Children AND Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development and Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory.

November 15 and 17, 2018 - Maple Ridge, BC
Workshops for early childhood educators and health professionals on impact of technology on children sponsored by Ridge Meadows Early Child Development Committee.
Contact person: Roberta O'Brien, 604-467-6055,  rmecd@telus.net

Other Workshops

Families Managing Media 2018
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.


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Research and News Review
 
Childhood Development

As screen time increases, new warnings about child technology use emerge
By Todd Kominiak February 12, 2018
A new warning suggests increased technology use among students could lead to a potentially harmful addiction.

By Becky Mansfield October 10, 2017
Researchers have been releasing alarming statistics on a sharp and steady increase in kids' mental illness, which is now reaching epidemic proportions.

By Natalie Atkinson, Globe & Mail January 25, 2018
Are trees chemical factories that could save our lives? Nathalie Atkinson reports on a collection of new books that argue for the benefits and beauty of forest bathing.

By Jennifer Mattern January 9, 2018
See their reaction about not being able to use their phone for one week!! 

Ted video by Dixon Chibanda recorded November 2017
Realizing that his country of Zimbabwe, would never be able to scale traditional methods of treating those with mental health issues, Chibanda helped to develop a beautiful solution powered by a limitless resource: grandmothers.

By Sarah Boesveld First published March 21, 2014
The students weren't hurting themselves - in fact, they were so active at recess that they returned to class vibrant and motivated, ready to learn.

Social Media, Internet & Mobile Technology

By Melanie Hempe February 21, 2018
I knew that giving my daughter a smartphone would definitely involve a trade-off, just as allowing video games involved a huge trade-off for my son. I was finally clear on the risks of video games for boys, but what was the risk for girls having smartphones? Her smartphone would allow her to connect with friends, but what would the real cost be for that constant connection?

By Nitasha Tiku February 14, 2018
In December when  Facebook launched  Messenger Kids , an app for preteens and children as young as 6, the company stressed that it had worked closely with leading experts in order to safeguard younger users. What Facebook didn't say is that many of those experts had received funding from Facebook.

By James P. Steyer February 6, 2018
Your child's digital addiction is by design. In the digital arms race to capture our attention, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, YouTube and others are pointing their powerful AI machines at our children's brains, learning from their behavior, and often, hooking them.

By Larry Clayton January 28, 2018
Digital addiction is dangerous, not only for teenagers and college students, but for the rest of us trying to navigate the storms and shoals of life.

By Andre Spicer January 9, 2018
While smartphone use is not obviously destroying our physical health, it has become a time-consuming habit, and one that carries a potential threat to mental health. Many users will tell you there is something strangely pleasurable about holding a cigarette pack or a mobile phone.

By Donald Coburn February 1, 2018
Media over consumption interferes with the brain chemistry of teens and their ability to learn, writes a high school English teacher.

By Qin Chen, February 22, 2018
To many parents, smartphones and iPads are wonderful babysitters - a funny Youtube video playing on a screen can work miles better than any pacifier or nanny. But this convenience has its costs.


 

Video Games & Pornography

By Sameer Kotian January 16,2018
Casinos have taken a step into the introduction of Virtual Reality Casinos. VR devices have been incorporated into the gaming business to place the gamer in an actual casino environment as a substitute for their real location.

Published by Fight The New Drug January 9, 2018
About 49% of trafficking survivors say porn was made of them while they were enslaved, and some of that content can even end up on mainstream sites.

By Ross Douthat February 10, 2018
Young people whose sexual coming-of-age is being mediated by watching online gangbangs need to understand that actually hard-core pornography is not an appropriate guide to how the sexes should relate.

Child & Youth Addictions
 
By NBC News February 28, 2018
Megyn Kelly sits down with Charlie Bracke, who says he sometimes spent more than 12 hours a day playing video games.

YouTube video published Februay 15, 2018
Constitutional Attorney Jonathan Emord on the link between psychiatric drugs and school shootings and why there should be a federal investigation.

SSRI Stories
Website
SSRI Stories is a collection of over 6,000 stories that have appeared in the media (newspapers, TV, scientific journals) in which prescription drugs were mentioned and in which the drugs may be linked to a variety of adverse outcomes including violence.

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN December 1, 2017
New research shows a connection to a lack of neural chemicals that affect your ability to focus.

By Anna Gronewold January 25, 2018
Poll shows that even adults with kids allowed to have screen time say parents are responsible for tech overuse.

By Adam Popescu January 25, 2018
Try this game: The next time you're sitting among a group of friends or out on a date, measure how much time passes before someone grabs their phone to look at it. How long can you last?

Video by AMEinfo January 29, 2018
Former top Apple executive Tony Fadell, principal at Future Shape, discusses smart tech addiction and the consumption of digital media.
 
By Daniel L. King, Cam Adair, John B. Saunders, Paul H. Delfabbro March 2018
This study aimed to identify variables predictive of short-term commitment to gaming abstinence following initial voluntary contact with an online help service.

By Daniel L. King, Madeleine C. E. Herd, Paul H. Delfabbro November 15, 2017
This study aimed to explore regular and problematic gamers' experiences and perceptions of tolerance in IGD. Participants reported that they increasingly desired game items, status, or story progress as they became more involved or invested in games. 

Zone'in Programs

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.

Tech Talks for Therapists   - 5 hour training for educators and therapists; includes Tech Tool Kit.
Tech Talks for Families 10 half hour sessions for families on tech management; includes Tech Tool Kit.
Zone'in - enhancing attention, learning and self-regulation.
Move'in - teaches children to print, the foundation for literacy.
Unplug'in  - builds skill and confidence in activities other than technology.
Live'in - media literacy guide for home, school and community.


Virtual Child - The terrifying truth about what technology is doing to children
Virtual Child
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.  

Need more info? Visit  www.virtualchild.ca

BUY NOW ON Amazon.com 
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Cris-small
About the Author
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 Training


Consultation
Innovative team-based approach to manage balance between activities children need to grow and succeed with technology use.

Cris Rowan is now offering private phone/Skype consultations. 

Care to Donate?
 
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!
Contact Us
 
6840 Seaview Rd. Sechelt BC V0N3A4 
Tel: 1-888-896-6346
Fax: 1-877-896-6346
© Zone'in Programs Inc. 2017