How Much Technology is Good for Your Child
By RubyHawk, October 2011
Copyright@ 2009-2011 by Expertscolumn.com.
Technology is changing so fast it's almost impossible to keep up. Just ten years ago a cell phone was just that, a cell phone. You could only talk on it. Now kids can go on line, take pictures, text. Are we, or our kids, ready for all this technology? Hopefully parents are keeping up with what their kids are doing. If you haven't already laid down the ground rules, it's time to do so. Children can get into trouble that will put their life in danger and cause trauma that will last a lifetime.
Over half the kids in the U.S. have an account on Facebook. Some log in as much as twenty times a day. Before you ever agree to your child going online they should be taught not to share any personal information. Parents should have the child's Facebook pass word so they can check up on what the child and friends are saying. The desire for popularity can lead your good child into bad behavior.
Read more at: expertscolumn.com
Always Connected
By Andrea Bennett
© 2011 Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, 175 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA 02116
Before she turned two, my daughter Emily was already adept at turning on my iPhone, scrolling the safety bar across, and finding her two favorite apps: CatPaint, a bucolic forest scene onto which you can overlay a variety of screeching cats (simultaneously horrifying, funny, and unstoppable); and Peekaboo Barn, a red barn that shivers and shakes until you "free" whatever bleating, clucking or mooing animal your child needs to know lives on a farm.
I relate this not to alert you that I am yet another competitive mother with whom you should never arrange a play date, but to tell you that I am terrified by what tiny digits can do these days. I am fairly sure that at that age, I was still fascinated by the way Velcro could fasten quilted books. I know it's been said before, but kids are just smarter now.
This is why I am not surprised by the results of a new survey from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, a nonprofit affiliated with Sesame Workshop, which revealed that roughly four out of five kids age 5 and younger use the Internet at least once a week.
Read more: esponsibility-project.libertymutual.com
Not Just TV - Too Much Technology Bad For Kids Also
By News Account
© 2011 ION Publications LLC
Today's children are coming of age immersed in a world video games, instant messaging and 3-D avatars of themselves. Many have cell phones, laptops, and hand-held video games. Heck, even robot pets are being raised in virtual worlds.
What impact does this technology have on children?
The journal Children, Youth and Environments (CYE) this month published a special issue titled "Children in Technological Environments." The issue examines the increasing prevalence of technology from various perspectives, including knowledge and education, social and moral development, culture and community, access and equity, relationship to nature, therapy and health, art and expression, and future scenarios.
"Today, technology is part of everyday life, and it can easily mediate or even replace other types of experiences," said Nathan G. Freier, assistant professor of HCI in the Department of Language, Literature, and Communication, with a joint appointment in Information Technology, at Rensselaer. "This journal issue provides us with a forum to address this ongoing dialogue regarding the impact of technology on children, and find ways to strike a balance in terms of interaction, development, and design.
Through past centuries, technologies have offered enormous benefits to children," Freier said. "Written language, for example, can be incredibly beautiful, and compared to spoken language, the written word - from clay tablets, to pen and paper, to digital computers - has allowed for new depths and forms of communication and expression, an unfolding of human awareness."
Freier's research interests fit within the broad area of human-computer interaction with emphasis on technologies for children, social robotics, and value sensitive design. His work explores how children develop socially and morally in the context of increased interactions with apparently intelligent, autonomous systems such as graphical avatars and social robots. His co-author, Peter H. Kahn Jr., is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology and adjunct professor in the Information School at the University of Washington. He also serves as director of the university's Human Interaction with Nature and Technological Systems (HINTS) Lab.
The field of human-computer interaction holds the design and evaluation of digital technologies as central to its mission. Traditionally, the field has considered the human relationship to technology to be one of "use"; but the field is expanding to address the many facets of human-technology interaction that include a focus on emotional, social, and moral experiences, which account for this complexity in the design and evaluation process. Thus, the special issue includes scholarly work on many aspects of children's relationships to their technological environments.
Read more at: science20.com
10 Steps to Successfully Unplug Children from Technology
© Copyright 2011 Zone'in Programs Inc., All Rights Reserved.
1. Become informed regarding the effects of technology on physical and mental health. Technology overuse is related to child attention problems, poor academics, aggression, family conflict, impaired sleep, developmental delays, attachment disorders, impaired body image, obesity and early sexuality. The signs of technology addiction are tolerance, withdrawal, unintended use, persistent desire, time spent, displacement of other activities, and continued use. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than one to two hours per day of combined technology use, yet elementary children use on average eight hours per day!
Need Help? Get informed by checking out the Zone'in website www.zonein.ca to watch the Reality Check video clip, read the Unplug - Don't Drug policy initiative, review the research, read loads of articles, and sign up for the Zone'in Development Series Newsletter.
2. Disconnect - Unplug yourself first! As child technology use patterns parallel that of their parents, a technology addicted child is likely to live in a high technology usage household. Parents need to determine how much technology is too much, and set limits. Parents should then model balancing technology use with other activities. Schools could sponsor a Technology Reduction Week where classrooms compete to reduce technology use.
Need help? Zone'in Mixed Signals Workshop offers participants information regarding family technology reduction strategies. All Zone'in Products and Workshops include the Zone'in Technology Reduction Module (can order at www.zoneinproducts.com).
3. Designate "sacred time" to reconnect with your children. The root of addiction is fear of human connection or "social anxiety", and results from poor parent - child attachment formation. Adults may benefit from exploring past experiences of attachment with their own parents, and think about how this experience may have affected how they relate to their own child or students. Designation of "sacred time" in the day with no technology (meals, in the car, before bedtime, and holidays) is a first start toward reconnecting with your children.
Need help? Zone'in A Cracked Foundation Workshop offers participants information regarding parent-child attachment and profiles the Attachment Questionnaire.
4. Explore alternatives to technology as a class or family. Not all children are interested in or value the same activities as adults. Fostering a tolerance for differences and respecting individual preferences can go a long way toward promoting children's motivation to unplug.
Need Help? Have each family member make a list of ten realistic, inexpensive things to do by themselves, with a friend, with another family member, with a pet, indoors, and outdoors. Help children create a game, song, joke, poem, story or dance. Buy a book of games, create a story night, play wrestle, make up a play, build a fort of couch cushions, or family cooking night are but a few of a myriad of alternatives to technology use.
5. Enhance performance skills PRIOR to unplugging your children. Children with technology addictions have poorly developed identities, social skills, relationship to nature and sense of spirit. Drastically or suddenly reducing technology with a child who has an addiction, will result in chaos at school and home, as the child is now alienated from what has become their whole meaning for living. Teachers and parents can help build performance skills by exposing children to activities that are "just right challenge", not too hard, not too easy.
Need help? Zone'in offers the new Unplug'in Game for school and home settings, a development tool to build performance skills prior to unplugging from technology.
6. Meet developmental milestones through engagement in the three critical factors for child development - movement, touch and connection. Children need to rough and tumble play 3-4 hours per day, and spend time connecting with their parent(s), teacher and other children, in order to achieve optimal physical and mental health. This type of play promotes adequate sensory development of the vestibular, proprioceptive, tactile and attachment systems needed for paying attention, printing and reading.
Read more at: zoneinworkshops.com
Family Book Club: Read Together and Talk
Children's books are primarily for entertainment and enjoyment. They can also be an important teaching tool for a parent and can lend themselves to good family discussions and the support of critical thinking. Occasionally, while reading to your child, look beyond just the pure enjoyment of the story to the possible lesson that could be learned. Questions that can be used for any story include:
· If you were in this story, who would you be?
· What is your favorite part of this story?
· If you could change the story, what would you change?
· What might a different ending be?
· What do you think we should remember from this story?
One caution: do not over-engage the child into always having to think of the meaning. Some stories are to be read just for the joy of reading. If you are using it for discussion, only ask a few questions---about as many as the child is old.
Our subject for the month of December is about the topic of "Technology for Children: When? How Much?" Let's face it, we are in the technological era and need to be informed. As parents we must determine when it is time to turn off the TV, video games, computers, you name it. Technology is not a dirty word, but sometimes it does get in the way-or give too much information. When you feel it's time to turn off the technology, reach for some of these books.
There aren't many books for the really young child, but one form of technology that seems to fascinate little ones is the telephone. Hello! Is This Grandma? by Ian Whybrow is a cute story about a child who tries to use the phone to call Grandma. It has fold out flaps to add to the fun. After reading this to your child, you could point out that perhaps it is best to get help when trying to call Grandma. It even has a lesson for adults-talking on a cell phone at the table is rude. Discussion questions might include:
1. How do you think the cow or the crocodile felt when the phone rang?
2. The story talks about pretend animals answering the phone. If you were to call a wrong number, how do you think the person answering might feel?
3. If you were in this story, where would you be?
4. Help your child to think about some rude behaviors (rude behavior means being impolite or behavior that makes others feel uncomfortable) and what to do instead.
If your child is in Pre-K through 2nd grade, Blackout by John Rocco is an excellent book that shows "normal" family routines can be interrupted when the power goes out and surprising results can happen. For the young child through 3rd grade, When Charlie McButton Lost Power has a similar theme, but also includes a lesson in values. It's a clever story told in rhyme and wonderfully illustrated. Charlie is addicted to computer games and panics when the power goes out. He sneaks a battery from one of his little sister's toys, gets into trouble, and has some time to think while he has a time out. He thinks of some fun activities to do with his little sister and learns that he doesn't have to be "plugged in" all of the time. A discussion might include:
1. Let's count and see how many toys you have that require batteries or electricity.
2. Can you think of some fun things to do that require only using your imagination?
3. Have a discussion about the amount of time spent watching TV or playing video or computer games. What could be unhealthy about that? What could some benefits be?
4. What could you do instead of playing with toys that use batteries or electricity?
There is no question that there are some benefits to using technology. A good children's guide for ages 8 to 12 on how to use the internet to get information needed for school reports and projects is found in Internet Action Homework Busters: How to Use the Internet for A+ Grades. It includes not only the "how to-s" but a fairly comprehensive glossary of computer terms. There is also A Smart Girl's Guide to the Internet put out by American Girl for this age group, which also includes ways to stay safe when using the internet. Your family discussion might include:
1. How do you use or plan to use the internet?
2. What do you worry about when you use the internet?
3. What safeguards should we be following?
4. Make a list of family rules about using the computer.
Betsy Duffey has written a fun chapter book Cody Unplugged for the elementary aged child. Cody would rather spend his summer vacation at home with his video games, computer, and TV. Camp Bear was not in his plans especially when he learns there is no electricity there. Cody comes up with his own wilderness guide to help him survive a week at summer camp. After your child finishes reading this book, you might have a fun discussion about the items your child would choose to have in his or her own survival guide.
1. What do you think is the funniest thing that happened to Cody?
2. Cody seemed to be able to think pretty quickly when he found himself in embarrassing situations. Have you ever had to think quick? What did you do?
3. How would you spend a week with no electricity?
If your family is looking for safe ways to explore the internet, look at Net Mom's Internet Kids & Family Yellow Pages by Jean Armour Polly. It is a comprehensive guide for family friendly use of the internet and will answer just about any questions you might have. If you are concerned about too much usage of technology, read about some of the pitfalls in Virtual Child by Chris A. Rowan.
The Childrens Corner
Hello! Is this Grandma? by Ian Whybrow
The Berenstain Bears Computer Trouble by Mike Berenstain
While Mama had a Quick Little Chat by Amy Reichert
BOOKS FOR K-3RD GRADE
Arthur's Computer Disaster by Marc Brown
Blackout by John Rocco
Faux Paw's Adventure in the Internet: Keeping Children Safe Online by Jacalyn S. Leavitt
Penny Lee and Her TV by Glenn McCoy
The Everything Machine by Matt Novak
The Internet for Kids by Charnan and Tom Kazunas
When Charlie McButton Lost Power by Suzanne Collins
BOOKS FOR 3RD-6TH GRADE
A Smart Girl's Guide to the Internet by American Girl
Cody Unplugged by Betsy Duffey
Internet Action Homework Busters: How to Use the Internet for A+ Grades by Bill Thompson
The Parent's Resource Place
BOOKS FOR PARENTS
Disconnected: Technology Addiction and the Search for Authenticity in Virtual Life by Nicole Radziwill
Net-mom's Internet Kids & Family Yellow Pages by Jean Armour Polly
Virtual Child by Cris A. Rowan
Linking Up 