The following article was written by a good friend and professional colleague of mine, Steve Parrett. Steve is a retired vocational rehabilitation counselor, who worked with alcohol and drug addicted clients for over thirty years. He was considered one of the best counselors among his peers, and his words put a slant on addiction that the public does not hear about in the general media. My hope is that anyone reading his article, who is struggling with addiction themselves, or is associated with a friend or loved one with this disorder, can put in proper perspective what needs to be done to  arrest this disease and begin to lead a normal life. It will also give assistance to professional caretakers who work with addicted clients.

 

VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION AND THE DISEASE OF ADDICTION

A Severe and Permanent Disability

By

Steve Parrett, M.Ed, M.Div.

 

The disease of addiction, including chemical dependency and other addictive disorders, definitely belongs in the category of permanent disabilities. Even when addiction is in a state of remission, it presents barriers to social and vocational functioning, because it is a chronic, progressive, potentially fatal disease, which can never be cured, although it can be controlled in the context of a lifelong recovery program that must be worked every day.

During the course of human development, the addictive individual has either never learned, or has lost touch, with the normal, appropriate ways to feel good about oneself: acceptance by and interaction with others (social), and a sense of personal achievement or accomplishment (primarily vocational for adults in our society). This brings about low self-esteem and creates a painful emptiness within the person. In order to fill this void and to feel better, the potential addict finds a vehicle that will instantly produce a change of mood that is pleasurable, intense, stimulating, exciting. Behaviors used to achieve these results are most often the use of alcohol and/other drugs, but could involve compulsive acting out of one or more pleasurable behaviors, such as eating, gambling, sex, spending money, or winning the approval of others. As the behavior is repeated, it becomes habitual and creates the illusion of control and direction in an otherwise fragmented life. Although the pleasure derived from the behavior decreases over time, the behavior is perpetuated to avoid pain (withdrawal) and to try desperately to recapture the familiar “ high.” At this point, the abuser has become an addict and has formed an intense emotional “relationship” with a chemical (mood-altering substance) or event (acting-out behavior).

As the abuse progresses to dependence and addiction, there occurs regression and deterioration in adult responsibility and functioning in all areas of life. As more and more time and energy is expended on and around the addictive behavior, the addict becomes increasingly isolated from other people and less capable of fulfilling responsibilities. There are definite functional limitations to employment. Using chemicals or acting out on the job causes impaired judgment and decreased work tolerance, resulting in sub-standard quality and/or quantity of work accomplished. An addict’s ability to concentrate and fulfill work duties can also be impaired by an obsessive/compulsive craving to feed the addiction and/or making plans to do so. Practicing the addiction off the job can cause excessive absenteeism from work due to several factors: related physical problems (including withdrawal), legal difficulties, impaired sense of timing and prioritizing, and a general loss of motivation to get to work due to an excessive pre-occupation with the addiction.

Addictive behavior becomes a habitual way of life and is continually repeated in spite of self-defeating and even self-destructive consequences. Addictive thinking replaces the logic of common sense as it becomes embedded in one’s personality structure. This delusional way of thinking includes persistent denial that this destructive process is taking place. Problems and consequences are explained away by blaming others and by a variety of creative excuses. On a deeper level, however, there is self-blame, guilt, and shame—painful feelings that can be relieved temporarily by more addictive behavior, which in turn causes more harmful consequences and pain, and so on in a vicious cycle. During this process, permanent and irreversible personality traits develop and grow, becoming more significant and basic to life itself than any specific addictive behavior. (This explains why addicts frequently add different types of substances or non-chemical addictive behavior to their life style and often switch from one prominent acting-out behavior to another). The key concept here is that eventually the addict forms a dependent relationship with his or her own addictive personality! At this point, the addict is powerless to change the behavior and will continue to deteriorate to total incapacitation or death, unless he or she in utter desperation relinquishes the illusion of control, admits that life has become unmanageable, and surrenders to outside help.

Recovery begins with becoming and learning to stay abstinent from addictive behavior, through medical treatment, counseling, addiction education, self-help groups, etc. However, a recovery program must go much further than abstinence. It is a process of learning (or re-learning) and practicing normal, healthy behaviors: first social (open and honest human interaction) and then productive/vocational (gradually assuming more independent adult responsibility). However, the addiction has made a permanent impact on the individual’s personality, creating tendencies to circumvent the difficult, often painful, recovery process by interacting with other people in more immediately gratifying, immature, controlling ways. Thus, the addict will likely use and manipulate others and exhibit impatience, inflexibility, impulsivity, and poor judgment. Self-esteem is still relatively low, so assertiveness, stress management, and decision-making skills are poor. In a job situation, these behaviors often result in dissension, disruption, and inefficient productivity, and can cause conflicts within co-workers, resistance to supervision, and decreased work tolerance. Obviously, termination from the job could result. Furthermore, the option to activate the original destructive, addictive behavior remains embedded in the core of the addict’s personality. On some level, the addict continues to believe that there is a mood-changing substance or behavior that can provide immediate nurturing, comfort, pleasure, and for a time help one to feel better and more adequate. The addictive behavior itself lies dormant during remission, but is always there potentially to be activated as a desperate coping mechanism in the face of a highly stressful situation. Because stressful situations can occur in life at any time, relapse is always a distinct possibility. And when a relapse of addictive behavior occurs, life again becomes impaired by the aforementioned limitations of active addiction.

One common highly stressful life situation that is especially pertinent to the vocational rehabilitation of an addict is the persistence of underemployment beyond early recovery. The nature and timing of productive responsibility is tricky and crucial in the addiction recovery process. Stress can cause relapse, and the kind of work that causes stress changes for some individuals as recovery progresses. For the first six months to a year (or longer in some cases) in recovery, an addict works to support his or her recovery program, not just economically, but also as an integral part of the therapeutic process itself. At this stage, employment brings one into the re-learning process of acquiring and handling more responsibility that is productive. The work should be on a relatively low stress, often menial job, while the individual is putting more energy into the basic recovery issues of acceptance, healthy dependency, trust, honesty, and intimacy with other people. However, after about a year in recovery (varying among individuals), increasing self-esteem, by way of more appropriate and challenging personal achievement, becomes a key issue. This usually means a shift into, or taking positive steps toward, satisfactory employment that is commensurate with one’s intelligence, interests, abilities, education, and previous experience. At this point, crucial to staying in recovery, are both stimulation during the hours spent productively, and the identification of a suitable “vocation” or “career” as an integral aspect of one’s self image.  Achieving this goal without the help of professional vocational rehabilitation assistance can be extremely difficult, if not impossible. This is due to the negative impact of the disease of addiction on the person’s physical and mental health, work history, work habits, finances, family and community support systems, and self-confinence to sell oneself as a valuable, productive worker and to earn the respect of both self and employer. The frustration, boredom, and poor self-image perpetuated by under-employment, can indeed create enough stress to bring about a relapse of the addictive behavior. Because such a relapse could easily render the individual incapable of working at any level, a recovering addict in such a life situation (as determined through appropriate counseling and evaluation) certainly has a vocational handicap, even while in recovery and after having been employed at some level for a length of time.

It is true that addicts can often benefit from some short-term assistance while in early recovery. However, when considering actual “vocational rehabilitation” in this disability group, it is crucial with many individuals (not all) to maintain a distinction between the temporary interim jobs of early recovery and the longer term vocation objective pertaining to the personal fulfillment of a rewarding occupation or career. The situation is analogous to that of a high school or college student who works part-time in summer jobs, but whose primary objective is formal learning—getting an education. In many cases the interim jobs have little or no similarity to longer term career goals. No one would deny this young person the benefit of an education because he or she can function on a lower level job, while the primary objective is to learn to live and cope in the world again without the crutch of the active process of the disease of addiction.

In fact, in most cases, working an interim job for several months should be a requirement for vocational services, because it demonstrates the responsibility and motivation to maintain a solid recovery program—a critical factor in assessing an addictive individual for feasibility for rehabilitation services. On the other side of the coin, the counselor should be very careful not to offer vocational (i.e. “career goal”) services too early in the client’s recovery. Doing so would “enable” the addiction and actually interfere with the recovery process. The addictive nature is to seize every opportunity to distract oneself from dealing with painful, basic recovery issues by diverting attention and energy to something he or she wants that seems less painful to pursue. A “rewarding career,” like a geographical change in residence, and many other distractions, can be pursued by the manipulative nature of the addict as a false “quick-cure,” with the rehabilitation counselor or other helpers being “set up” as manipulative enablers of the disease process. After the first year of recovery, the addict has usually grown to the stage where suitable vocational or career choice is a legitimate recovery issue, and in some cases is crucial to the maintenance and progression of the recovery process itself.

Therefore, in terms of eligibility, the rehabilitation counselor and other helpers should then be free to appropriately serve the addicted individual, as long as they are knowledgeable of and respect the nature and timing of the recovery process, and what services are appropriate to a particular stage of recovery.

THE END

(Steve Parrett and I worked with addicted clients for many years. We provided vocational rehabilitation counseling and other needed services as appropriate after our clients completed the initial phases of their recovery process. This initial period consisted of detox, outpatient treatment, 12-Step Program participation, halfway house residence, counseling, and whatever else the clients needed. Almost all were required to remain clean and sober for one year before any in-depth vocational testing and counseling was provided. The reason for this extended period of time is the fact that alcohol and drug abuse alters the brain is such a way that it does not return to normal for about a year. Most psychologists do not do personality or IQ testing until after about a year of sobriety, because they will otherwise get a false impression of the client and his or her abilities. Joe Wilkins)

ADDENDUM TO CHAPTER 15 IN JOE’S BOOK, “HOW TO RAISE SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN”  — Joe Wilkins, Copyright © 2015

 

When I wrote the above book, I was not fully aware of the pervasiveness of the electronic media on all our lives. Since the early 1950’s my generation was initially aware of how television was interrupting the study habits of some of our school children, and how many of us had curtailed our reading habits in favor of getting our information and entertainment from television instead. However, in those days it was not  a major problem, and was in fact considered to be a blessing, freeing us from some degree of tediousness and boredom in those who suffered from humdrum lives.

However, in recent years there has been an explosion of electronic devices, beyond the simple television set: cell phones, video games, earphone players, laptops, i-pads, tablets, and numerous other instruments that are quickly becoming integral parts of our lives. In and of themselves, these devices are good for the advancement of civilization–if we use them properly. Communication is easier and faster. Research about particular topics has been greatly facilitated by the availability of the Internet. Commerce, advertising, and shopping can be conducted from home. The future of our technology seems so wonderful that some believe it will promote a world with little or no limits.

Some of these positive dreams will happen, but like with all technology there will be some prices to pay. This article is to up-date my readers with some cautionary considerations with which they may not be aware, and which are especially important for child-rearing parents to know.

In Chapters 4,5,and 6 of my book we discussed, respectively, Thinking, Emotional, and Behavioral/Social skill development in children. Many experts believe that the earliest years, ages 0 to 6, are the most important, setting the stage for the years leading to the teens and adulthood. Everyone is aware of the many trials of the teenage years, but after a few years of awkward growth and development, ending at about age eighteen or so, most people progress on into the adult world feeling they have most of what they need to pursue their life goals. About all else they think will be needed is education to prepare them for specific jobs or careers, usually at college, technical training, or on-the-job instruction.

However, recent neurological and psychological research has now demonstrated that what we used to believe about human growth and development was a book without an ending. There is now a final chapter being written, which we can tentatively title, “The Human Brain Does Not Stop Growing Until About Age 25, Or Thereabouts!” What is being discovered is that parts of the brain continue to grow, developing its unique wiring diagram of neuron connections until the mid-twenties. And the most affected part of the brain is the pre-frontal cortex, where most of our “higher civilization” skills are developed–skills such as rational thinking, socialization, complex abstract reasoning, and other neurological growths that go to produce competent, productive adults.

So what, one may ask, does all this have to do with modern media devices? The crux of the situation is this: the development of certain critical  parts of the brain require extensive face-to-face communication and socialization among children, from birth until the mid twenties. The brain is not finished growing as soon as the child graduates from high school–or college! And the pervasive use of cell phones, i-pads, computers, and other electronic media by developing children and young adults, inhibits the development of those parts of the brain necessary to becoming a complete person!

One may legitimately ask how does being overly involved in the use of  electronic media inhibit the brain from developing to its maximum? It’s a complicated process, but avoiding direct communication with others limits face-to-face interaction, obscures the ability to observe body language, pick up subtle inflections in family and social situations, and other sophisticated nuances that families, tribes, schools, communities, and countries require of our citizens.

Almost all electronic involvement  on computers, the internet, electronic games, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, cellphones, and telephones, in varying degrees, limits the total impact of the communication from one person to another. Can one imagine the messages that a young man and woman would get should the beau propose marriage to his girl over some electronic media, versus doing it in person while holding her hand! Absent would be the smell of her perfume, the cadence of their breathing, the look in both their eyes, the surrounding sounds, the anticipatory expectations, and all the other subtle nuances of the event. And all  the stimuli arising from a personal, face-to-face marriage proposal would have a radically different impact on both their developing brains, versus a proposal made over some electronic media!  And it is the presence of critical, personal stimuli which causes new brain connections to form, many stimuli which would be absent over a cell phone or Twitter.

Back when this counselor was working with mentally ill patients, several professional colleagues in private practice told me how they were doing more “phone counseling and therapy.” Initially, I didn’t know what to make of this, because all my training and experience consisted of dealing with clients face-to-face, either individually or in groups. Phone conversations were to set appointments for direct meetings or other minor issues. Soon, professional journal articles began to appear as to the benefits of this “phone counseling.” I never accepted it, because I always valued all the information I could get by directly observing the client’s body language: pupils in their eyes getting wider or narrower, wringing of hands, perspiring, blushing or blanching, arms defensively crossing, leaning forward or backward, shuffling of feet, smiling or frowning–all non- verbal information important to the situation and permanently being inscribed on their brains in their intellectual and emotional systems. None of this would have been available to me or them over a phone or on Facebook.

Therapy consists of helping clients develop “corrective” programs in their thinking, feeling, and behaving brains, trying to overcome and replace “bad” programs that they learned in earlier years–or never were taught in the first place! Now, imagine a child brought up on a steady diet of electronic media communication–to the neglect of interpersonal, intimate interaction with others. Such a child arriving at post-age 25 adulthood would be quite sophisticated in the electronic media world, but would be less capable in other important areas of life. Imagine a person whose spelling lessons were from Twitter only, or whose math ability always required the use of a computer!

The Dana Foundation, an organization advancing brain research, found that the human brain continues to develop its “wiring” diagram well into the mid twenties. The most affected areas of the brain are the frontal lobes, which are critical to the development of high level cognitive skills, such as judgement, intellectual capabilities, and the regulation of emotions. And a Kaiser Foundation study noted that high school students spent about 6.5 hours per day on their computers, supposedly studying, but actually two-thirds of that time was spent on other things, such as playing games, cruising the internet, etc. These students became very good at multi-tasking, but became superficial in many important behavioral skills, and the learning quality was not good. They were spending too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends electronically.

A review of several studies indicates the following results in people who have spent too much time with electronic media:

1. There is depersonalization (lack of empathy) from limited direct contact with people. They often don’t have a good sense of what society’s normal behavior is.
2. They communicate more often– but the quality of their communication is weaker.
3. Kids who spend too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends, rather than being with them personally, are less likely to understand emotions, don’t create strong relationships, and tend to become more dependent on others.
4. Because kids need to be hugged and touched a lot instead of being texted, their overuse of technology directly affects their brain development.
5. The more children interact with others through electronic media, rather than in person, their emotions are connected to the media exchange itself, resulting in a deficit in intimacy need fulfillment.
6. Social media communication makes it easy to “hide”, while still appearing to be okay.
7. Cellphone usage while driving is like driving drunk
8. Technology and screen time rewires brains in certain patterns that can inhibit the development of brain neurological circuits that control more traditional learning, such as reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Any attention deficit disorder causes here?
9. In a 2011 study girls sent about 4000 texts per month, while boys sent around 2800. It doesn’t take much speculation to imagine what that is doing to their developing brains. Not being in substantial, direct contact with others during childhood, rather than being with them personally, makes people less likely to understand emotions, less able to create strong relationships, and tending  to become more dependent on others.

 

Summing all this up shows that parents need to use good sense in allowing their children in the use of all these modern media devices. Obviously there are benefits to learning their use, however, it is abundantly clear that nothing should interfere with also exposing them to an abundance of social interactions;  reading books, magazines, newspapers, and other printed materials where proper English is used; exposure to stimulating conversations face to face; and developing the other skills outlined in this book.

All new inventions and technical advances promote the growth of the human race in many ways. Yet, there is always a downside, or unintended consequences, to these advances. If we were all robots there would be few problems, but the hard reality is we all possess a brain that has been pretty much the same for thousands of years. And this brain, while capable of marvelous things when properly programmed, still requires a lot of good, old-fashioned learning. Make sure your children get it all.

 

( If you like this article, the book to which this article is an addition is available on amazon.com. The reviews have been very favorable. Check them out. You won’t find a book like this one.)

ADDENDUM TO CHAPTER 15 IN JOE’S BOOK, “HOW TO RAISE SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN”  — Joe Wilkins, Copyright © 2015

 

When I wrote the above book, I was not fully aware of the pervasiveness of the electronic media on all our lives. Since the early 1950’s my generation was initially aware of how television was interrupting the study habits of some of our school children, and how many of us had curtailed our reading habits in favor of getting our information and entertainment from television instead. However, in those days it was not  a major problem, and was in fact considered to be a blessing, freeing us from some degree of tediousness and boredom in those who suffered from humdrum lives.

However, in recent years there has been an explosion of electronic devices, beyond the simple television set: cell phones, video games, earphone players, laptops, i-pads, tablets, and numerous other instruments that are quickly becoming integral parts of our lives. In and of themselves, these devices are good for the advancement of civilization–if we use them properly. Communication is easier and faster. Research about particular topics has been greatly facilitated by the availability of the Internet. Commerce, advertising, and shopping can be conducted from home. The future of our technology seems so wonderful that some believe it will promote a world with little or no limits.

Some of these positive dreams will happen, but like with all technology there will be some prices to pay. This article is to up-date my readers with some cautionary considerations with which they may not be aware, and which are especially important for child-rearing parents to know.

In Chapters 4,5,and 6 of my book we discussed, respectively, Thinking, Emotional, and Behavioral/Social skill development in children. Many experts believe that the earliest years, ages 0 to 6, are the most important, setting the stage for the years leading to the teens and adulthood. Everyone is aware of the many trials of the teenage years, but after a few years of awkward growth and development, ending at about age eighteen or so, most people progress on into the adult world feeling they have most of what they need to pursue their life goals. About all else they think will be needed is education to prepare them for specific jobs or careers, usually at college, technical training, or on-the-job instruction.

However, recent neurological and psychological research has now demonstrated that what we used to believe about human growth and development was a book without an ending. There is now a final chapter being written, which we can tentatively title, “The Human Brain Does Not Stop Growing Until About Age 25, Or Thereabouts!” What is being discovered is that parts of the brain continue to grow, developing its unique wiring diagram of neuron connections until the mid-twenties. And the most affected part of the brain is the pre-frontal cortex, where most of our “higher civilization” skills are developed–skills such as rational thinking, socialization, complex abstract reasoning, and other neurological growths that go to produce competent, productive adults.

So what, one may ask, does all this have to do with modern media devices? The crux of the situation is this: the development of certain critical  parts of the brain require extensive face-to-face communication and socialization among children, from birth until the mid twenties. The brain is not finished growing as soon as the child graduates from high school–or college! And the pervasive use of cell phones, i-pads, computers, and other electronic media by developing children and young adults, inhibits the development of those parts of the brain necessary to becoming a complete person!

One may legitimately ask how does being overly involved in the use of  electronic media inhibit the brain from developing to its maximum? It’s a complicated process, but avoiding direct communication with others limits face-to-face interaction, obscures the ability to observe body language, pick up subtle inflections in family and social situations, and other sophisticated nuances that families, tribes, schools, communities, and countries require of our citizens.

Almost all electronic involvement  on computers, the internet, electronic games, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, cellphones, and telephones, in varying degrees, limits the total impact of the communication from one person to another. Can one imagine the messages that a young man and woman would get should the beau propose marriage to his girl over some electronic media, versus doing it in person while holding her hand! Absent would be the smell of her perfume, the cadence of their breathing, the look in both their eyes, the surrounding sounds, the anticipatory expectations, and all the other subtle nuances of the event. And all  the stimuli arising from a personal, face-to-face marriage proposal would have a radically different impact on both their developing brains, versus a proposal made over some electronic media!  And it is the presence of critical, personal stimuli which causes new brain connections to form, many stimuli which would be absent over a cell phone or Twitter.

Back when this counselor was working with mentally ill patients, several professional colleagues in private practice told me how they were doing more “phone counseling and therapy.” Initially, I didn’t know what to make of this, because all my training and experience consisted of dealing with clients face-to-face, either individually or in groups. Phone conversations were to set appointments for direct meetings or other minor issues. Soon, professional journal articles began to appear as to the benefits of this “phone counseling.” I never accepted it, because I always valued all the information I could get by directly observing the client’s body language: pupils in their eyes getting wider or narrower, wringing of hands, perspiring, blushing or blanching, arms defensively crossing, leaning forward or backward, shuffling of feet, smiling or frowning–all non- verbal information important to the situation and permanently being inscribed on their brains in their intellectual and emotional systems. None of this would have been available to me or them over a phone or on Facebook.

Therapy consists of helping clients develop “corrective” programs in their thinking, feeling, and behaving brains, trying to overcome and replace “bad” programs that they learned in earlier years–or never were taught in the first place! Now, imagine a child brought up on a steady diet of electronic media communication–to the neglect of interpersonal, intimate interaction with others. Such a child arriving at post-age 25 adulthood would be quite sophisticated in the electronic media world, but would be less capable in other important areas of life. Imagine a person whose spelling lessons were from Twitter only, or whose math ability always required the use of a computer!

The Dana Foundation, an organization advancing brain research, found that the human brain continues to develop its “wiring” diagram well into the mid twenties. The most affected areas of the brain are the frontal lobes, which are critical to the development of high level cognitive skills, such as judgement, intellectual capabilities, and the regulation of emotions. And a Kaiser Foundation study noted that high school students spent about 6.5 hours per day on their computers, supposedly studying, but actually two-thirds of that time was spent on other things, such as playing games, cruising the internet, etc. These students became very good at multi-tasking, but became superficial in many important behavioral skills, and the learning quality was not good. They were spending too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends electronically.

A review of several studies indicates the following results in people who have spent too much time with electronic media:

1. There is depersonalization (lack of empathy) from limited direct contact with people. They often don’t have a good sense of what society’s normal behavior is.
2. They communicate more often– but the quality of their communication is weaker.
3. Kids who spend too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends, rather than being with them personally, are less likely to understand emotions, don’t create strong relationships, and tend to become more dependent on others.
4. Because kids need to be hugged and touched a lot instead of being texted, their overuse of technology directly affects their brain development.
5. The more children interact with others through electronic media, rather than in person, their emotions are connected to the media exchange itself, resulting in a deficit in intimacy need fulfillment.
6. Social media communication makes it easy to “hide”, while still appearing to be okay.
7. Cellphone usage while driving is like driving drunk
8. Technology and screen time rewires brains in certain patterns that can inhibit the development of brain neurological circuits that control more traditional learning, such as reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Any attention deficit disorder causes here?
9. In a 2011 study girls sent about 4000 texts per month, while boys sent around 2800. It doesn’t take much speculation to imagine what that is doing to their developing brains. Not being in substantial, direct contact with others during childhood, rather than being with them personally, makes people less likely to understand emotions, less able to create strong relationships, and tending  to become more dependent on others.

 

Summing all this up shows that parents need to use good sense in allowing their children in the use of all these modern media devices. Obviously there are benefits to learning their use, however, it is abundantly clear that nothing should interfere with also exposing them to an abundance of social interactions;  reading books, magazines, newspapers, and other printed materials where proper English is used; exposure to stimulating conversations face to face; and developing the other skills outlined in this book.

All new inventions and technical advances promote the growth of the human race in many ways. Yet, there is always a downside, or unintended consequences, to these advances. If we were all robots there would be few problems, but the hard reality is we all possess a brain that has been pretty much the same for thousands of years. And this brain, while capable of marvelous things when properly programmed, still requires a lot of good, old-fashioned learning. Make sure your children get it all.

 

( If you like this article, the book to which this article is an addition is available on amazon.com. The reviews have been very favorable. Check them out. You won’t find a book like this one.)

ADDENDUM TO CHAPTER 15 IN JOE’S BOOK, “HOW TO RAISE SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN”  — Joe Wilkins, Copyright © 2015

 

When I wrote the above book, I was not fully aware of the pervasiveness of the electronic media on all our lives. Since the early 1950’s my generation was initially aware of how television was interrupting the study habits of some of our school children, and how many of us had curtailed our reading habits in favor of getting our information and entertainment from television instead. However, in those days it was not  a major problem, and was in fact considered to be a blessing, freeing us from some degree of tediousness and boredom in those who suffered from humdrum lives.

However, in recent years there has been an explosion of electronic devices, beyond the simple television set: cell phones, video games, earphone players, laptops, i-pads, tablets, and numerous other instruments that are quickly becoming integral parts of our lives. In and of themselves, these devices are good for the advancement of civilization–if we use them properly. Communication is easier and faster. Research about particular topics has been greatly facilitated by the availability of the Internet. Commerce, advertising, and shopping can be conducted from home. The future of our technology seems so wonderful that some believe it will promote a world with little or no limits.

Some of these positive dreams will happen, but like with all technology there will be some prices to pay. This article is to up-date my readers with some cautionary considerations with which they may not be aware, and which are especially important for child-rearing parents to know.

In Chapters 4,5,and 6 of my book we discussed, respectively, Thinking, Emotional, and Behavioral/Social skill development in children. Many experts believe that the earliest years, ages 0 to 6, are the most important, setting the stage for the years leading to the teens and adulthood. Everyone is aware of the many trials of the teenage years, but after a few years of awkward growth and development, ending at about age eighteen or so, most people progress on into the adult world feeling they have most of what they need to pursue their life goals. About all else they think will be needed is education to prepare them for specific jobs or careers, usually at college, technical training, or on-the-job instruction.

However, recent neurological and psychological research has now demonstrated that what we used to believe about human growth and development was a book without an ending. There is now a final chapter being written, which we can tentatively title, “The Human Brain Does Not Stop Growing Until About Age 25, Or Thereabouts!” What is being discovered is that parts of the brain continue to grow, developing its unique wiring diagram of neuron connections until the mid-twenties. And the most affected part of the brain is the pre-frontal cortex, where most of our “higher civilization” skills are developed–skills such as rational thinking, socialization, complex abstract reasoning, and other neurological growths that go to produce competent, productive adults.

So what, one may ask, does all this have to do with modern media devices? The crux of the situation is this: the development of certain critical  parts of the brain require extensive face-to-face communication and socialization among children, from birth until the mid twenties. The brain is not finished growing as soon as the child graduates from high school–or college! And the pervasive use of cell phones, i-pads, computers, and other electronic media by developing children and young adults, inhibits the development of those parts of the brain necessary to becoming a complete person!

One may legitimately ask how does being overly involved in the use of  electronic media inhibit the brain from developing to its maximum? It’s a complicated process, but avoiding direct communication with others limits face-to-face interaction, obscures the ability to observe body language, pick up subtle inflections in family and social situations, and other sophisticated nuances that families, tribes, schools, communities, and countries require of our citizens.

Almost all electronic involvement  on computers, the internet, electronic games, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, cellphones, and telephones, in varying degrees, limits the total impact of the communication from one person to another. Can one imagine the messages that a young man and woman would get should the beau propose marriage to his girl over some electronic media, versus doing it in person while holding her hand! Absent would be the smell of her perfume, the cadence of their breathing, the look in both their eyes, the surrounding sounds, the anticipatory expectations, and all the other subtle nuances of the event. And all  the stimuli arising from a personal, face-to-face marriage proposal would have a radically different impact on both their developing brains, versus a proposal made over some electronic media!  And it is the presence of critical, personal stimuli which causes new brain connections to form, many stimuli which would be absent over a cell phone or Twitter.

Back when this counselor was working with mentally ill patients, several professional colleagues in private practice told me how they were doing more “phone counseling and therapy.” Initially, I didn’t know what to make of this, because all my training and experience consisted of dealing with clients face-to-face, either individually or in groups. Phone conversations were to set appointments for direct meetings or other minor issues. Soon, professional journal articles began to appear as to the benefits of this “phone counseling.” I never accepted it, because I always valued all the information I could get by directly observing the client’s body language: pupils in their eyes getting wider or narrower, wringing of hands, perspiring, blushing or blanching, arms defensively crossing, leaning forward or backward, shuffling of feet, smiling or frowning–all non- verbal information important to the situation and permanently being inscribed on their brains in their intellectual and emotional systems. None of this would have been available to me or them over a phone or on Facebook.

Therapy consists of helping clients develop “corrective” programs in their thinking, feeling, and behaving brains, trying to overcome and replace “bad” programs that they learned in earlier years–or never were taught in the first place! Now, imagine a child brought up on a steady diet of electronic media communication–to the neglect of interpersonal, intimate interaction with others. Such a child arriving at post-age 25 adulthood would be quite sophisticated in the electronic media world, but would be less capable in other important areas of life. Imagine a person whose spelling lessons were from Twitter only, or whose math ability always required the use of a computer!

The Dana Foundation, an organization advancing brain research, found that the human brain continues to develop its “wiring” diagram well into the mid twenties. The most affected areas of the brain are the frontal lobes, which are critical to the development of high level cognitive skills, such as judgement, intellectual capabilities, and the regulation of emotions. And a Kaiser Foundation study noted that high school students spent about 6.5 hours per day on their computers, supposedly studying, but actually two-thirds of that time was spent on other things, such as playing games, cruising the internet, etc. These students became very good at multi-tasking, but became superficial in many important behavioral skills, and the learning quality was not good. They were spending too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends electronically.

A review of several studies indicates the following results in people who have spent too much time with electronic media:

1. There is depersonalization (lack of empathy) from limited direct contact with people. They often don’t have a good sense of what society’s normal behavior is.
2. They communicate more often– but the quality of their communication is weaker.
3. Kids who spend too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends, rather than being with them personally, are less likely to understand emotions, don’t create strong relationships, and tend to become more dependent on others.
4. Because kids need to be hugged and touched a lot instead of being texted, their overuse of technology directly affects their brain development.
5. The more children interact with others through electronic media, rather than in person, their emotions are connected to the media exchange itself, resulting in a deficit in intimacy need fulfillment.
6. Social media communication makes it easy to “hide”, while still appearing to be okay.
7. Cellphone usage while driving is like driving drunk
8. Technology and screen time rewires brains in certain patterns that can inhibit the development of brain neurological circuits that control more traditional learning, such as reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Any attention deficit disorder causes here?
9. In a 2011 study girls sent about 4000 texts per month, while boys sent around 2800. It doesn’t take much speculation to imagine what that is doing to their developing brains. Not being in substantial, direct contact with others during childhood, rather than being with them personally, makes people less likely to understand emotions, less able to create strong relationships, and tending  to become more dependent on others.

 

Summing all this up shows that parents need to use good sense in allowing their children in the use of all these modern media devices. Obviously there are benefits to learning their use, however, it is abundantly clear that nothing should interfere with also exposing them to an abundance of social interactions;  reading books, magazines, newspapers, and other printed materials where proper English is used; exposure to stimulating conversations face to face; and developing the other skills outlined in this book.

All new inventions and technical advances promote the growth of the human race in many ways. Yet, there is always a downside, or unintended consequences, to these advances. If we were all robots there would be few problems, but the hard reality is we all possess a brain that has been pretty much the same for thousands of years. And this brain, while capable of marvelous things when properly programmed, still requires a lot of good, old-fashioned learning. Make sure your children get it all.

 

( If you like this article, the book to which this article is an addition is available on amazon.com. The reviews have been very favorable. Check them out. You won’t find a book like this one.)

ADDENDUM TO CHAPTER 15 IN JOE’S BOOK, “HOW TO RAISE SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN”  — Joe Wilkins, Copyright © 2015

 

When I wrote the above book, I was not fully aware of the pervasiveness of the electronic media on all our lives. Since the early 1950’s my generation was initially aware of how television was interrupting the study habits of some of our school children, and how many of us had curtailed our reading habits in favor of getting our information and entertainment from television instead. However, in those days it was not  a major problem, and was in fact considered to be a blessing, freeing us from some degree of tediousness and boredom in those who suffered from humdrum lives.

However, in recent years there has been an explosion of electronic devices, beyond the simple television set: cell phones, video games, earphone players, laptops, i-pads, tablets, and numerous other instruments that are quickly becoming integral parts of our lives. In and of themselves, these devices are good for the advancement of civilization–if we use them properly. Communication is easier and faster. Research about particular topics has been greatly facilitated by the availability of the Internet. Commerce, advertising, and shopping can be conducted from home. The future of our technology seems so wonderful that some believe it will promote a world with little or no limits.

Some of these positive dreams will happen, but like with all technology there will be some prices to pay. This article is to up-date my readers with some cautionary considerations with which they may not be aware, and which are especially important for child-rearing parents to know.

In Chapters 4,5,and 6 of my book we discussed, respectively, Thinking, Emotional, and Behavioral/Social skill development in children. Many experts believe that the earliest years, ages 0 to 6, are the most important, setting the stage for the years leading to the teens and adulthood. Everyone is aware of the many trials of the teenage years, but after a few years of awkward growth and development, ending at about age eighteen or so, most people progress on into the adult world feeling they have most of what they need to pursue their life goals. About all else they think will be needed is education to prepare them for specific jobs or careers, usually at college, technical training, or on-the-job instruction.

However, recent neurological and psychological research has now demonstrated that what we used to believe about human growth and development was a book without an ending. There is now a final chapter being written, which we can tentatively title, “The Human Brain Does Not Stop Growing Until About Age 25, Or Thereabouts!” What is being discovered is that parts of the brain continue to grow, developing its unique wiring diagram of neuron connections until the mid-twenties. And the most affected part of the brain is the pre-frontal cortex, where most of our “higher civilization” skills are developed–skills such as rational thinking, socialization, complex abstract reasoning, and other neurological growths that go to produce competent, productive adults.

So what, one may ask, does all this have to do with modern media devices? The crux of the situation is this: the development of certain critical  parts of the brain require extensive face-to-face communication and socialization among children, from birth until the mid twenties. The brain is not finished growing as soon as the child graduates from high school–or college! And the pervasive use of cell phones, i-pads, computers, and other electronic media by developing children and young adults, inhibits the development of those parts of the brain necessary to becoming a complete person!

One may legitimately ask how does being overly involved in the use of  electronic media inhibit the brain from developing to its maximum? It’s a complicated process, but avoiding direct communication with others limits face-to-face interaction, obscures the ability to observe body language, pick up subtle inflections in family and social situations, and other sophisticated nuances that families, tribes, schools, communities, and countries require of our citizens.

Almost all electronic involvement  on computers, the internet, electronic games, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, cellphones, and telephones, in varying degrees, limits the total impact of the communication from one person to another. Can one imagine the messages that a young man and woman would get should the beau propose marriage to his girl over some electronic media, versus doing it in person while holding her hand! Absent would be the smell of her perfume, the cadence of their breathing, the look in both their eyes, the surrounding sounds, the anticipatory expectations, and all the other subtle nuances of the event. And all  the stimuli arising from a personal, face-to-face marriage proposal would have a radically different impact on both their developing brains, versus a proposal made over some electronic media!  And it is the presence of critical, personal stimuli which causes new brain connections to form, many stimuli which would be absent over a cell phone or Twitter.

Back when this counselor was working with mentally ill patients, several professional colleagues in private practice told me how they were doing more “phone counseling and therapy.” Initially, I didn’t know what to make of this, because all my training and experience consisted of dealing with clients face-to-face, either individually or in groups. Phone conversations were to set appointments for direct meetings or other minor issues. Soon, professional journal articles began to appear as to the benefits of this “phone counseling.” I never accepted it, because I always valued all the information I could get by directly observing the client’s body language: pupils in their eyes getting wider or narrower, wringing of hands, perspiring, blushing or blanching, arms defensively crossing, leaning forward or backward, shuffling of feet, smiling or frowning–all non- verbal information important to the situation and permanently being inscribed on their brains in their intellectual and emotional systems. None of this would have been available to me or them over a phone or on Facebook.

Therapy consists of helping clients develop “corrective” programs in their thinking, feeling, and behaving brains, trying to overcome and replace “bad” programs that they learned in earlier years–or never were taught in the first place! Now, imagine a child brought up on a steady diet of electronic media communication–to the neglect of interpersonal, intimate interaction with others. Such a child arriving at post-age 25 adulthood would be quite sophisticated in the electronic media world, but would be less capable in other important areas of life. Imagine a person whose spelling lessons were from Twitter only, or whose math ability always required the use of a computer!

The Dana Foundation, an organization advancing brain research, found that the human brain continues to develop its “wiring” diagram well into the mid twenties. The most affected areas of the brain are the frontal lobes, which are critical to the development of high level cognitive skills, such as judgement, intellectual capabilities, and the regulation of emotions. And a Kaiser Foundation study noted that high school students spent about 6.5 hours per day on their computers, supposedly studying, but actually two-thirds of that time was spent on other things, such as playing games, cruising the internet, etc. These students became very good at multi-tasking, but became superficial in many important behavioral skills, and the learning quality was not good. They were spending too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends electronically.

A review of several studies indicates the following results in people who have spent too much time with electronic media:

1. There is depersonalization (lack of empathy) from limited direct contact with people. They often don’t have a good sense of what society’s normal behavior is.
2. They communicate more often– but the quality of their communication is weaker.
3. Kids who spend too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends, rather than being with them personally, are less likely to understand emotions, don’t create strong relationships, and tend to become more dependent on others.
4. Because kids need to be hugged and touched a lot instead of being texted, their overuse of technology directly affects their brain development.
5. The more children interact with others through electronic media, rather than in person, their emotions are connected to the media exchange itself, resulting in a deficit in intimacy need fulfillment.
6. Social media communication makes it easy to “hide”, while still appearing to be okay.
7. Cellphone usage while driving is like driving drunk
8. Technology and screen time rewires brains in certain patterns that can inhibit the development of brain neurological circuits that control more traditional learning, such as reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Any attention deficit disorder causes here?
9. In a 2011 study girls sent about 4000 texts per month, while boys sent around 2800. It doesn’t take much speculation to imagine what that is doing to their developing brains. Not being in substantial, direct contact with others during childhood, rather than being with them personally, makes people less likely to understand emotions, less able to create strong relationships, and tending  to become more dependent on others.

 

Summing all this up shows that parents need to use good sense in allowing their children in the use of all these modern media devices. Obviously there are benefits to learning their use, however, it is abundantly clear that nothing should interfere with also exposing them to an abundance of social interactions;  reading books, magazines, newspapers, and other printed materials where proper English is used; exposure to stimulating conversations face to face; and developing the other skills outlined in this book.

All new inventions and technical advances promote the growth of the human race in many ways. Yet, there is always a downside, or unintended consequences, to these advances. If we were all robots there would be few problems, but the hard reality is we all possess a brain that has been pretty much the same for thousands of years. And this brain, while capable of marvelous things when properly programmed, still requires a lot of good, old-fashioned learning. Make sure your children get it all.

 

( If you like this article, the book to which this article is an addition is available on amazon.com. The reviews have been very favorable. Check them out. You won’t find a book like this one.)

ADDENDUM TO CHAPTER 15 IN JOE’S BOOK, “HOW TO RAISE SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN”  — Joe Wilkins, Copyright © 2015

 

When I wrote the above book, I was not fully aware of the pervasiveness of the electronic media on all our lives. Since the early 1950’s my generation was initially aware of how television was interrupting the study habits of some of our school children, and how many of us had curtailed our reading habits in favor of getting our information and entertainment from television instead. However, in those days it was not  a major problem, and was in fact considered to be a blessing, freeing us from some degree of tediousness and boredom in those who suffered from humdrum lives.

However, in recent years there has been an explosion of electronic devices, beyond the simple television set: cell phones, video games, earphone players, laptops, i-pads, tablets, and numerous other instruments that are quickly becoming integral parts of our lives. In and of themselves, these devices are good for the advancement of civilization–if we use them properly. Communication is easier and faster. Research about particular topics has been greatly facilitated by the availability of the Internet. Commerce, advertising, and shopping can be conducted from home. The future of our technology seems so wonderful that some believe it will promote a world with little or no limits.

Some of these positive dreams will happen, but like with all technology there will be some prices to pay. This article is to up-date my readers with some cautionary considerations with which they may not be aware, and which are especially important for child-rearing parents to know.

In Chapters 4,5,and 6 of my book we discussed, respectively, Thinking, Emotional, and Behavioral/Social skill development in children. Many experts believe that the earliest years, ages 0 to 6, are the most important, setting the stage for the years leading to the teens and adulthood. Everyone is aware of the many trials of the teenage years, but after a few years of awkward growth and development, ending at about age eighteen or so, most people progress on into the adult world feeling they have most of what they need to pursue their life goals. About all else they think will be needed is education to prepare them for specific jobs or careers, usually at college, technical training, or on-the-job instruction.

However, recent neurological and psychological research has now demonstrated that what we used to believe about human growth and development was a book without an ending. There is now a final chapter being written, which we can tentatively title, “The Human Brain Does Not Stop Growing Until About Age 25, Or Thereabouts!” What is being discovered is that parts of the brain continue to grow, developing its unique wiring diagram of neuron connections until the mid-twenties. And the most affected part of the brain is the pre-frontal cortex, where most of our “higher civilization” skills are developed–skills such as rational thinking, socialization, complex abstract reasoning, and other neurological growths that go to produce competent, productive adults.

So what, one may ask, does all this have to do with modern media devices? The crux of the situation is this: the development of certain critical  parts of the brain require extensive face-to-face communication and socialization among children, from birth until the mid twenties. The brain is not finished growing as soon as the child graduates from high school–or college! And the pervasive use of cell phones, i-pads, computers, and other electronic media by developing children and young adults, inhibits the development of those parts of the brain necessary to becoming a complete person!

One may legitimately ask how does being overly involved in the use of  electronic media inhibit the brain from developing to its maximum? It’s a complicated process, but avoiding direct communication with others limits face-to-face interaction, obscures the ability to observe body language, pick up subtle inflections in family and social situations, and other sophisticated nuances that families, tribes, schools, communities, and countries require of our citizens.

Almost all electronic involvement  on computers, the internet, electronic games, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, cellphones, and telephones, in varying degrees, limits the total impact of the communication from one person to another. Can one imagine the messages that a young man and woman would get should the beau propose marriage to his girl over some electronic media, versus doing it in person while holding her hand! Absent would be the smell of her perfume, the cadence of their breathing, the look in both their eyes, the surrounding sounds, the anticipatory expectations, and all the other subtle nuances of the event. And all  the stimuli arising from a personal, face-to-face marriage proposal would have a radically different impact on both their developing brains, versus a proposal made over some electronic media!  And it is the presence of critical, personal stimuli which causes new brain connections to form, many stimuli which would be absent over a cell phone or Twitter.

Back when this counselor was working with mentally ill patients, several professional colleagues in private practice told me how they were doing more “phone counseling and therapy.” Initially, I didn’t know what to make of this, because all my training and experience consisted of dealing with clients face-to-face, either individually or in groups. Phone conversations were to set appointments for direct meetings or other minor issues. Soon, professional journal articles began to appear as to the benefits of this “phone counseling.” I never accepted it, because I always valued all the information I could get by directly observing the client’s body language: pupils in their eyes getting wider or narrower, wringing of hands, perspiring, blushing or blanching, arms defensively crossing, leaning forward or backward, shuffling of feet, smiling or frowning–all non- verbal information important to the situation and permanently being inscribed on their brains in their intellectual and emotional systems. None of this would have been available to me or them over a phone or on Facebook.

Therapy consists of helping clients develop “corrective” programs in their thinking, feeling, and behaving brains, trying to overcome and replace “bad” programs that they learned in earlier years–or never were taught in the first place! Now, imagine a child brought up on a steady diet of electronic media communication–to the neglect of interpersonal, intimate interaction with others. Such a child arriving at post-age 25 adulthood would be quite sophisticated in the electronic media world, but would be less capable in other important areas of life. Imagine a person whose spelling lessons were from Twitter only, or whose math ability always required the use of a computer!

The Dana Foundation, an organization advancing brain research, found that the human brain continues to develop its “wiring” diagram well into the mid twenties. The most affected areas of the brain are the frontal lobes, which are critical to the development of high level cognitive skills, such as judgement, intellectual capabilities, and the regulation of emotions. And a Kaiser Foundation study noted that high school students spent about 6.5 hours per day on their computers, supposedly studying, but actually two-thirds of that time was spent on other things, such as playing games, cruising the internet, etc. These students became very good at multi-tasking, but became superficial in many important behavioral skills, and the learning quality was not good. They were spending too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends electronically.

A review of several studies indicates the following results in people who have spent too much time with electronic media:

1. There is depersonalization (lack of empathy) from limited direct contact with people. They often don’t have a good sense of what society’s normal behavior is.
2. They communicate more often– but the quality of their communication is weaker.
3. Kids who spend too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends, rather than being with them personally, are less likely to understand emotions, don’t create strong relationships, and tend to become more dependent on others.
4. Because kids need to be hugged and touched a lot instead of being texted, their overuse of technology directly affects their brain development.
5. The more children interact with others through electronic media, rather than in person, their emotions are connected to the media exchange itself, resulting in a deficit in intimacy need fulfillment.
6. Social media communication makes it easy to “hide”, while still appearing to be okay.
7. Cellphone usage while driving is like driving drunk
8. Technology and screen time rewires brains in certain patterns that can inhibit the development of brain neurological circuits that control more traditional learning, such as reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Any attention deficit disorder causes here?
9. In a 2011 study girls sent about 4000 texts per month, while boys sent around 2800. It doesn’t take much speculation to imagine what that is doing to their developing brains. Not being in substantial, direct contact with others during childhood, rather than being with them personally, makes people less likely to understand emotions, less able to create strong relationships, and tending  to become more dependent on others.

 

Summing all this up shows that parents need to use good sense in allowing their children in the use of all these modern media devices. Obviously there are benefits to learning their use, however, it is abundantly clear that nothing should interfere with also exposing them to an abundance of social interactions;  reading books, magazines, newspapers, and other printed materials where proper English is used; exposure to stimulating conversations face to face; and developing the other skills outlined in this book.

All new inventions and technical advances promote the growth of the human race in many ways. Yet, there is always a downside, or unintended consequences, to these advances. If we were all robots there would be few problems, but the hard reality is we all possess a brain that has been pretty much the same for thousands of years. And this brain, while capable of marvelous things when properly programmed, still requires a lot of good, old-fashioned learning. Make sure your children get it all.

 

( If you like this article, the book to which this article is an addition is available on amazon.com. The reviews have been very favorable. Check them out. You won’t find a book like this one.)

ADDENDUM TO CHAPTER 15 IN JOE’S BOOK, “HOW TO RAISE SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN”  — Joe Wilkins, Copyright © 2015

 

When I wrote the above book, I was not fully aware of the pervasiveness of the electronic media on all our lives. Since the early 1950’s my generation was initially aware of how television was interrupting the study habits of some of our school children, and how many of us had curtailed our reading habits in favor of getting our information and entertainment from television instead. However, in those days it was not  a major problem, and was in fact considered to be a blessing, freeing us from some degree of tediousness and boredom in those who suffered from humdrum lives.

However, in recent years there has been an explosion of electronic devices, beyond the simple television set: cell phones, video games, earphone players, laptops, i-pads, tablets, and numerous other instruments that are quickly becoming integral parts of our lives. In and of themselves, these devices are good for the advancement of civilization–if we use them properly. Communication is easier and faster. Research about particular topics has been greatly facilitated by the availability of the Internet. Commerce, advertising, and shopping can be conducted from home. The future of our technology seems so wonderful that some believe it will promote a world with little or no limits.

Some of these positive dreams will happen, but like with all technology there will be some prices to pay. This article is to up-date my readers with some cautionary considerations with which they may not be aware, and which are especially important for child-rearing parents to know.

In Chapters 4,5,and 6 of my book we discussed, respectively, Thinking, Emotional, and Behavioral/Social skill development in children. Many experts believe that the earliest years, ages 0 to 6, are the most important, setting the stage for the years leading to the teens and adulthood. Everyone is aware of the many trials of the teenage years, but after a few years of awkward growth and development, ending at about age eighteen or so, most people progress on into the adult world feeling they have most of what they need to pursue their life goals. About all else they think will be needed is education to prepare them for specific jobs or careers, usually at college, technical training, or on-the-job instruction.

However, recent neurological and psychological research has now demonstrated that what we used to believe about human growth and development was a book without an ending. There is now a final chapter being written, which we can tentatively title, “The Human Brain Does Not Stop Growing Until About Age 25, Or Thereabouts!” What is being discovered is that parts of the brain continue to grow, developing its unique wiring diagram of neuron connections until the mid-twenties. And the most affected part of the brain is the pre-frontal cortex, where most of our “higher civilization” skills are developed–skills such as rational thinking, socialization, complex abstract reasoning, and other neurological growths that go to produce competent, productive adults.

So what, one may ask, does all this have to do with modern media devices? The crux of the situation is this: the development of certain critical  parts of the brain require extensive face-to-face communication and socialization among children, from birth until the mid twenties. The brain is not finished growing as soon as the child graduates from high school–or college! And the pervasive use of cell phones, i-pads, computers, and other electronic media by developing children and young adults, inhibits the development of those parts of the brain necessary to becoming a complete person!

One may legitimately ask how does being overly involved in the use of  electronic media inhibit the brain from developing to its maximum? It’s a complicated process, but avoiding direct communication with others limits face-to-face interaction, obscures the ability to observe body language, pick up subtle inflections in family and social situations, and other sophisticated nuances that families, tribes, schools, communities, and countries require of our citizens.

Almost all electronic involvement  on computers, the internet, electronic games, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, cellphones, and telephones, in varying degrees, limits the total impact of the communication from one person to another. Can one imagine the messages that a young man and woman would get should the beau propose marriage to his girl over some electronic media, versus doing it in person while holding her hand! Absent would be the smell of her perfume, the cadence of their breathing, the look in both their eyes, the surrounding sounds, the anticipatory expectations, and all the other subtle nuances of the event. And all  the stimuli arising from a personal, face-to-face marriage proposal would have a radically different impact on both their developing brains, versus a proposal made over some electronic media!  And it is the presence of critical, personal stimuli which causes new brain connections to form, many stimuli which would be absent over a cell phone or Twitter.

Back when this counselor was working with mentally ill patients, several professional colleagues in private practice told me how they were doing more “phone counseling and therapy.” Initially, I didn’t know what to make of this, because all my training and experience consisted of dealing with clients face-to-face, either individually or in groups. Phone conversations were to set appointments for direct meetings or other minor issues. Soon, professional journal articles began to appear as to the benefits of this “phone counseling.” I never accepted it, because I always valued all the information I could get by directly observing the client’s body language: pupils in their eyes getting wider or narrower, wringing of hands, perspiring, blushing or blanching, arms defensively crossing, leaning forward or backward, shuffling of feet, smiling or frowning–all non- verbal information important to the situation and permanently being inscribed on their brains in their intellectual and emotional systems. None of this would have been available to me or them over a phone or on Facebook.

Therapy consists of helping clients develop “corrective” programs in their thinking, feeling, and behaving brains, trying to overcome and replace “bad” programs that they learned in earlier years–or never were taught in the first place! Now, imagine a child brought up on a steady diet of electronic media communication–to the neglect of interpersonal, intimate interaction with others. Such a child arriving at post-age 25 adulthood would be quite sophisticated in the electronic media world, but would be less capable in other important areas of life. Imagine a person whose spelling lessons were from Twitter only, or whose math ability always required the use of a computer!

The Dana Foundation, an organization advancing brain research, found that the human brain continues to develop its “wiring” diagram well into the mid twenties. The most affected areas of the brain are the frontal lobes, which are critical to the development of high level cognitive skills, such as judgement, intellectual capabilities, and the regulation of emotions. And a Kaiser Foundation study noted that high school students spent about 6.5 hours per day on their computers, supposedly studying, but actually two-thirds of that time was spent on other things, such as playing games, cruising the internet, etc. These students became very good at multi-tasking, but became superficial in many important behavioral skills, and the learning quality was not good. They were spending too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends electronically.

A review of several studies indicates the following results in people who have spent too much time with electronic media:

1. There is depersonalization (lack of empathy) from limited direct contact with people. They often don’t have a good sense of what society’s normal behavior is.
2. They communicate more often– but the quality of their communication is weaker.
3. Kids who spend too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends, rather than being with them personally, are less likely to understand emotions, don’t create strong relationships, and tend to become more dependent on others.
4. Because kids need to be hugged and touched a lot instead of being texted, their overuse of technology directly affects their brain development.
5. The more children interact with others through electronic media, rather than in person, their emotions are connected to the media exchange itself, resulting in a deficit in intimacy need fulfillment.
6. Social media communication makes it easy to “hide”, while still appearing to be okay.
7. Cellphone usage while driving is like driving drunk
8. Technology and screen time rewires brains in certain patterns that can inhibit the development of brain neurological circuits that control more traditional learning, such as reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Any attention deficit disorder causes here?
9. In a 2011 study girls sent about 4000 texts per month, while boys sent around 2800. It doesn’t take much speculation to imagine what that is doing to their developing brains. Not being in substantial, direct contact with others during childhood, rather than being with them personally, makes people less likely to understand emotions, less able to create strong relationships, and tending  to become more dependent on others.

 

Summing all this up shows that parents need to use good sense in allowing their children in the use of all these modern media devices. Obviously there are benefits to learning their use, however, it is abundantly clear that nothing should interfere with also exposing them to an abundance of social interactions;  reading books, magazines, newspapers, and other printed materials where proper English is used; exposure to stimulating conversations face to face; and developing the other skills outlined in this book.

All new inventions and technical advances promote the growth of the human race in many ways. Yet, there is always a downside, or unintended consequences, to these advances. If we were all robots there would be few problems, but the hard reality is we all possess a brain that has been pretty much the same for thousands of years. And this brain, while capable of marvelous things when properly programmed, still requires a lot of good, old-fashioned learning. Make sure your children get it all.

 

( If you like this article, the book to which this article is an addition is available on amazon.com. The reviews have been very favorable. Check them out. You won’t find a book like this one.)

ADDENDUM TO CHAPTER 15 IN JOE’S BOOK, “HOW TO RAISE SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN”  — Joe Wilkins, Copyright © 2015

 

When I wrote the above book, I was not fully aware of the pervasiveness of the electronic media on all our lives. Since the early 1950’s my generation was initially aware of how television was interrupting the study habits of some of our school children, and how many of us had curtailed our reading habits in favor of getting our information and entertainment from television instead. However, in those days it was not  a major problem, and was in fact considered to be a blessing, freeing us from some degree of tediousness and boredom in those who suffered from humdrum lives.

However, in recent years there has been an explosion of electronic devices, beyond the simple television set: cell phones, video games, earphone players, laptops, i-pads, tablets, and numerous other instruments that are quickly becoming integral parts of our lives. In and of themselves, these devices are good for the advancement of civilization–if we use them properly. Communication is easier and faster. Research about particular topics has been greatly facilitated by the availability of the Internet. Commerce, advertising, and shopping can be conducted from home. The future of our technology seems so wonderful that some believe it will promote a world with little or no limits.

Some of these positive dreams will happen, but like with all technology there will be some prices to pay. This article is to up-date my readers with some cautionary considerations with which they may not be aware, and which are especially important for child-rearing parents to know.

In Chapters 4,5,and 6 of my book we discussed, respectively, Thinking, Emotional, and Behavioral/Social skill development in children. Many experts believe that the earliest years, ages 0 to 6, are the most important, setting the stage for the years leading to the teens and adulthood. Everyone is aware of the many trials of the teenage years, but after a few years of awkward growth and development, ending at about age eighteen or so, most people progress on into the adult world feeling they have most of what they need to pursue their life goals. About all else they think will be needed is education to prepare them for specific jobs or careers, usually at college, technical training, or on-the-job instruction.

However, recent neurological and psychological research has now demonstrated that what we used to believe about human growth and development was a book without an ending. There is now a final chapter being written, which we can tentatively title, “The Human Brain Does Not Stop Growing Until About Age 25, Or Thereabouts!” What is being discovered is that parts of the brain continue to grow, developing its unique wiring diagram of neuron connections until the mid-twenties. And the most affected part of the brain is the pre-frontal cortex, where most of our “higher civilization” skills are developed–skills such as rational thinking, socialization, complex abstract reasoning, and other neurological growths that go to produce competent, productive adults.

So what, one may ask, does all this have to do with modern media devices? The crux of the situation is this: the development of certain critical  parts of the brain require extensive face-to-face communication and socialization among children, from birth until the mid twenties. The brain is not finished growing as soon as the child graduates from high school–or college! And the pervasive use of cell phones, i-pads, computers, and other electronic media by developing children and young adults, inhibits the development of those parts of the brain necessary to becoming a complete person!

One may legitimately ask how does being overly involved in the use of  electronic media inhibit the brain from developing to its maximum? It’s a complicated process, but avoiding direct communication with others limits face-to-face interaction, obscures the ability to observe body language, pick up subtle inflections in family and social situations, and other sophisticated nuances that families, tribes, schools, communities, and countries require of our citizens.

Almost all electronic involvement  on computers, the internet, electronic games, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, cellphones, and telephones, in varying degrees, limits the total impact of the communication from one person to another. Can one imagine the messages that a young man and woman would get should the beau propose marriage to his girl over some electronic media, versus doing it in person while holding her hand! Absent would be the smell of her perfume, the cadence of their breathing, the look in both their eyes, the surrounding sounds, the anticipatory expectations, and all the other subtle nuances of the event. And all  the stimuli arising from a personal, face-to-face marriage proposal would have a radically different impact on both their developing brains, versus a proposal made over some electronic media!  And it is the presence of critical, personal stimuli which causes new brain connections to form, many stimuli which would be absent over a cell phone or Twitter.

Back when this counselor was working with mentally ill patients, several professional colleagues in private practice told me how they were doing more “phone counseling and therapy.” Initially, I didn’t know what to make of this, because all my training and experience consisted of dealing with clients face-to-face, either individually or in groups. Phone conversations were to set appointments for direct meetings or other minor issues. Soon, professional journal articles began to appear as to the benefits of this “phone counseling.” I never accepted it, because I always valued all the information I could get by directly observing the client’s body language: pupils in their eyes getting wider or narrower, wringing of hands, perspiring, blushing or blanching, arms defensively crossing, leaning forward or backward, shuffling of feet, smiling or frowning–all non- verbal information important to the situation and permanently being inscribed on their brains in their intellectual and emotional systems. None of this would have been available to me or them over a phone or on Facebook.

Therapy consists of helping clients develop “corrective” programs in their thinking, feeling, and behaving brains, trying to overcome and replace “bad” programs that they learned in earlier years–or never were taught in the first place! Now, imagine a child brought up on a steady diet of electronic media communication–to the neglect of interpersonal, intimate interaction with others. Such a child arriving at post-age 25 adulthood would be quite sophisticated in the electronic media world, but would be less capable in other important areas of life. Imagine a person whose spelling lessons were from Twitter only, or whose math ability always required the use of a computer!

The Dana Foundation, an organization advancing brain research, found that the human brain continues to develop its “wiring” diagram well into the mid twenties. The most affected areas of the brain are the frontal lobes, which are critical to the development of high level cognitive skills, such as judgement, intellectual capabilities, and the regulation of emotions. And a Kaiser Foundation study noted that high school students spent about 6.5 hours per day on their computers, supposedly studying, but actually two-thirds of that time was spent on other things, such as playing games, cruising the internet, etc. These students became very good at multi-tasking, but became superficial in many important behavioral skills, and the learning quality was not good. They were spending too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends electronically.

A review of several studies indicates the following results in people who have spent too much time with electronic media:

1. There is depersonalization (lack of empathy) from limited direct contact with people. They often don’t have a good sense of what society’s normal behavior is.
2. They communicate more often– but the quality of their communication is weaker.
3. Kids who spend too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends, rather than being with them personally, are less likely to understand emotions, don’t create strong relationships, and tend to become more dependent on others.
4. Because kids need to be hugged and touched a lot instead of being texted, their overuse of technology directly affects their brain development.
5. The more children interact with others through electronic media, rather than in person, their emotions are connected to the media exchange itself, resulting in a deficit in intimacy need fulfillment.
6. Social media communication makes it easy to “hide”, while still appearing to be okay.
7. Cellphone usage while driving is like driving drunk
8. Technology and screen time rewires brains in certain patterns that can inhibit the development of brain neurological circuits that control more traditional learning, such as reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Any attention deficit disorder causes here?
9. In a 2011 study girls sent about 4000 texts per month, while boys sent around 2800. It doesn’t take much speculation to imagine what that is doing to their developing brains. Not being in substantial, direct contact with others during childhood, rather than being with them personally, makes people less likely to understand emotions, less able to create strong relationships, and tending  to become more dependent on others.

 

Summing all this up shows that parents need to use good sense in allowing their children in the use of all these modern media devices. Obviously there are benefits to learning their use, however, it is abundantly clear that nothing should interfere with also exposing them to an abundance of social interactions;  reading books, magazines, newspapers, and other printed materials where proper English is used; exposure to stimulating conversations face to face; and developing the other skills outlined in this book.

All new inventions and technical advances promote the growth of the human race in many ways. Yet, there is always a downside, or unintended consequences, to these advances. If we were all robots there would be few problems, but the hard reality is we all possess a brain that has been pretty much the same for thousands of years. And this brain, while capable of marvelous things when properly programmed, still requires a lot of good, old-fashioned learning. Make sure your children get it all.

 

( If you like this article, the book to which this article is an addition is available on amazon.com. The reviews have been very favorable. Check them out. You won’t find a book like this one.)

ADDENDUM TO CHAPTER 15 IN JOE’S BOOK, “HOW TO RAISE SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN”  — Joe Wilkins, Copyright © 2015

 

When I wrote the above book, I was not fully aware of the pervasiveness of the electronic media on all our lives. Since the early 1950’s my generation was initially aware of how television was interrupting the study habits of some of our school children, and how many of us had curtailed our reading habits in favor of getting our information and entertainment from television instead. However, in those days it was not  a major problem, and was in fact considered to be a blessing, freeing us from some degree of tediousness and boredom in those who suffered from humdrum lives.

However, in recent years there has been an explosion of electronic devices, beyond the simple television set: cell phones, video games, earphone players, laptops, i-pads, tablets, and numerous other instruments that are quickly becoming integral parts of our lives. In and of themselves, these devices are good for the advancement of civilization–if we use them properly. Communication is easier and faster. Research about particular topics has been greatly facilitated by the availability of the Internet. Commerce, advertising, and shopping can be conducted from home. The future of our technology seems so wonderful that some believe it will promote a world with little or no limits.

Some of these positive dreams will happen, but like with all technology there will be some prices to pay. This article is to up-date my readers with some cautionary considerations with which they may not be aware, and which are especially important for child-rearing parents to know.

In Chapters 4,5,and 6 of my book we discussed, respectively, Thinking, Emotional, and Behavioral/Social skill development in children. Many experts believe that the earliest years, ages 0 to 6, are the most important, setting the stage for the years leading to the teens and adulthood. Everyone is aware of the many trials of the teenage years, but after a few years of awkward growth and development, ending at about age eighteen or so, most people progress on into the adult world feeling they have most of what they need to pursue their life goals. About all else they think will be needed is education to prepare them for specific jobs or careers, usually at college, technical training, or on-the-job instruction.

However, recent neurological and psychological research has now demonstrated that what we used to believe about human growth and development was a book without an ending. There is now a final chapter being written, which we can tentatively title, “The Human Brain Does Not Stop Growing Until About Age 25, Or Thereabouts!” What is being discovered is that parts of the brain continue to grow, developing its unique wiring diagram of neuron connections until the mid-twenties. And the most affected part of the brain is the pre-frontal cortex, where most of our “higher civilization” skills are developed–skills such as rational thinking, socialization, complex abstract reasoning, and other neurological growths that go to produce competent, productive adults.

So what, one may ask, does all this have to do with modern media devices? The crux of the situation is this: the development of certain critical  parts of the brain require extensive face-to-face communication and socialization among children, from birth until the mid twenties. The brain is not finished growing as soon as the child graduates from high school–or college! And the pervasive use of cell phones, i-pads, computers, and other electronic media by developing children and young adults, inhibits the development of those parts of the brain necessary to becoming a complete person!

One may legitimately ask how does being overly involved in the use of  electronic media inhibit the brain from developing to its maximum? It’s a complicated process, but avoiding direct communication with others limits face-to-face interaction, obscures the ability to observe body language, pick up subtle inflections in family and social situations, and other sophisticated nuances that families, tribes, schools, communities, and countries require of our citizens.

Almost all electronic involvement  on computers, the internet, electronic games, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, cellphones, and telephones, in varying degrees, limits the total impact of the communication from one person to another. Can one imagine the messages that a young man and woman would get should the beau propose marriage to his girl over some electronic media, versus doing it in person while holding her hand! Absent would be the smell of her perfume, the cadence of their breathing, the look in both their eyes, the surrounding sounds, the anticipatory expectations, and all the other subtle nuances of the event. And all  the stimuli arising from a personal, face-to-face marriage proposal would have a radically different impact on both their developing brains, versus a proposal made over some electronic media!  And it is the presence of critical, personal stimuli which causes new brain connections to form, many stimuli which would be absent over a cell phone or Twitter.

Back when this counselor was working with mentally ill patients, several professional colleagues in private practice told me how they were doing more “phone counseling and therapy.” Initially, I didn’t know what to make of this, because all my training and experience consisted of dealing with clients face-to-face, either individually or in groups. Phone conversations were to set appointments for direct meetings or other minor issues. Soon, professional journal articles began to appear as to the benefits of this “phone counseling.” I never accepted it, because I always valued all the information I could get by directly observing the client’s body language: pupils in their eyes getting wider or narrower, wringing of hands, perspiring, blushing or blanching, arms defensively crossing, leaning forward or backward, shuffling of feet, smiling or frowning–all non- verbal information important to the situation and permanently being inscribed on their brains in their intellectual and emotional systems. None of this would have been available to me or them over a phone or on Facebook.

Therapy consists of helping clients develop “corrective” programs in their thinking, feeling, and behaving brains, trying to overcome and replace “bad” programs that they learned in earlier years–or never were taught in the first place! Now, imagine a child brought up on a steady diet of electronic media communication–to the neglect of interpersonal, intimate interaction with others. Such a child arriving at post-age 25 adulthood would be quite sophisticated in the electronic media world, but would be less capable in other important areas of life. Imagine a person whose spelling lessons were from Twitter only, or whose math ability always required the use of a computer!

The Dana Foundation, an organization advancing brain research, found that the human brain continues to develop its “wiring” diagram well into the mid twenties. The most affected areas of the brain are the frontal lobes, which are critical to the development of high level cognitive skills, such as judgement, intellectual capabilities, and the regulation of emotions. And a Kaiser Foundation study noted that high school students spent about 6.5 hours per day on their computers, supposedly studying, but actually two-thirds of that time was spent on other things, such as playing games, cruising the internet, etc. These students became very good at multi-tasking, but became superficial in many important behavioral skills, and the learning quality was not good. They were spending too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends electronically.

A review of several studies indicates the following results in people who have spent too much time with electronic media:

1. There is depersonalization (lack of empathy) from limited direct contact with people. They often don’t have a good sense of what society’s normal behavior is.
2. They communicate more often– but the quality of their communication is weaker.
3. Kids who spend too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends, rather than being with them personally, are less likely to understand emotions, don’t create strong relationships, and tend to become more dependent on others.
4. Because kids need to be hugged and touched a lot instead of being texted, their overuse of technology directly affects their brain development.
5. The more children interact with others through electronic media, rather than in person, their emotions are connected to the media exchange itself, resulting in a deficit in intimacy need fulfillment.
6. Social media communication makes it easy to “hide”, while still appearing to be okay.
7. Cellphone usage while driving is like driving drunk
8. Technology and screen time rewires brains in certain patterns that can inhibit the development of brain neurological circuits that control more traditional learning, such as reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Any attention deficit disorder causes here?
9. In a 2011 study girls sent about 4000 texts per month, while boys sent around 2800. It doesn’t take much speculation to imagine what that is doing to their developing brains. Not being in substantial, direct contact with others during childhood, rather than being with them personally, makes people less likely to understand emotions, less able to create strong relationships, and tending  to become more dependent on others.

 

Summing all this up shows that parents need to use good sense in allowing their children in the use of all these modern media devices. Obviously there are benefits to learning their use, however, it is abundantly clear that nothing should interfere with also exposing them to an abundance of social interactions;  reading books, magazines, newspapers, and other printed materials where proper English is used; exposure to stimulating conversations face to face; and developing the other skills outlined in this book.

All new inventions and technical advances promote the growth of the human race in many ways. Yet, there is always a downside, or unintended consequences, to these advances. If we were all robots there would be few problems, but the hard reality is we all possess a brain that has been pretty much the same for thousands of years. And this brain, while capable of marvelous things when properly programmed, still requires a lot of good, old-fashioned learning. Make sure your children get it all.

 

( If you like this article, the book to which this article is an addition is available on amazon.com. The reviews have been very favorable. Check them out. You won’t find a book like this one.)

ADDENDUM TO CHAPTER 15 IN JOE’S BOOK, “HOW TO RAISE SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN”  — Joe Wilkins, Copyright © 2015

 

When I wrote the above book, I was not fully aware of the pervasiveness of the electronic media on all our lives. Since the early 1950’s my generation was initially aware of how television was interrupting the study habits of some of our school children, and how many of us had curtailed our reading habits in favor of getting our information and entertainment from television instead. However, in those days it was not  a major problem, and was in fact considered to be a blessing, freeing us from some degree of tediousness and boredom in those who suffered from humdrum lives.

However, in recent years there has been an explosion of electronic devices, beyond the simple television set: cell phones, video games, earphone players, laptops, i-pads, tablets, and numerous other instruments that are quickly becoming integral parts of our lives. In and of themselves, these devices are good for the advancement of civilization–if we use them properly. Communication is easier and faster. Research about particular topics has been greatly facilitated by the availability of the Internet. Commerce, advertising, and shopping can be conducted from home. The future of our technology seems so wonderful that some believe it will promote a world with little or no limits.

Some of these positive dreams will happen, but like with all technology there will be some prices to pay. This article is to up-date my readers with some cautionary considerations with which they may not be aware, and which are especially important for child-rearing parents to know.

In Chapters 4,5,and 6 of my book we discussed, respectively, Thinking, Emotional, and Behavioral/Social skill development in children. Many experts believe that the earliest years, ages 0 to 6, are the most important, setting the stage for the years leading to the teens and adulthood. Everyone is aware of the many trials of the teenage years, but after a few years of awkward growth and development, ending at about age eighteen or so, most people progress on into the adult world feeling they have most of what they need to pursue their life goals. About all else they think will be needed is education to prepare them for specific jobs or careers, usually at college, technical training, or on-the-job instruction.

However, recent neurological and psychological research has now demonstrated that what we used to believe about human growth and development was a book without an ending. There is now a final chapter being written, which we can tentatively title, “The Human Brain Does Not Stop Growing Until About Age 25, Or Thereabouts!” What is being discovered is that parts of the brain continue to grow, developing its unique wiring diagram of neuron connections until the mid-twenties. And the most affected part of the brain is the pre-frontal cortex, where most of our “higher civilization” skills are developed–skills such as rational thinking, socialization, complex abstract reasoning, and other neurological growths that go to produce competent, productive adults.

So what, one may ask, does all this have to do with modern media devices? The crux of the situation is this: the development of certain critical  parts of the brain require extensive face-to-face communication and socialization among children, from birth until the mid twenties. The brain is not finished growing as soon as the child graduates from high school–or college! And the pervasive use of cell phones, i-pads, computers, and other electronic media by developing children and young adults, inhibits the development of those parts of the brain necessary to becoming a complete person!

One may legitimately ask how does being overly involved in the use of  electronic media inhibit the brain from developing to its maximum? It’s a complicated process, but avoiding direct communication with others limits face-to-face interaction, obscures the ability to observe body language, pick up subtle inflections in family and social situations, and other sophisticated nuances that families, tribes, schools, communities, and countries require of our citizens.

Almost all electronic involvement  on computers, the internet, electronic games, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, cellphones, and telephones, in varying degrees, limits the total impact of the communication from one person to another. Can one imagine the messages that a young man and woman would get should the beau propose marriage to his girl over some electronic media, versus doing it in person while holding her hand! Absent would be the smell of her perfume, the cadence of their breathing, the look in both their eyes, the surrounding sounds, the anticipatory expectations, and all the other subtle nuances of the event. And all  the stimuli arising from a personal, face-to-face marriage proposal would have a radically different impact on both their developing brains, versus a proposal made over some electronic media!  And it is the presence of critical, personal stimuli which causes new brain connections to form, many stimuli which would be absent over a cell phone or Twitter.

Back when this counselor was working with mentally ill patients, several professional colleagues in private practice told me how they were doing more “phone counseling and therapy.” Initially, I didn’t know what to make of this, because all my training and experience consisted of dealing with clients face-to-face, either individually or in groups. Phone conversations were to set appointments for direct meetings or other minor issues. Soon, professional journal articles began to appear as to the benefits of this “phone counseling.” I never accepted it, because I always valued all the information I could get by directly observing the client’s body language: pupils in their eyes getting wider or narrower, wringing of hands, perspiring, blushing or blanching, arms defensively crossing, leaning forward or backward, shuffling of feet, smiling or frowning–all non- verbal information important to the situation and permanently being inscribed on their brains in their intellectual and emotional systems. None of this would have been available to me or them over a phone or on Facebook.

Therapy consists of helping clients develop “corrective” programs in their thinking, feeling, and behaving brains, trying to overcome and replace “bad” programs that they learned in earlier years–or never were taught in the first place! Now, imagine a child brought up on a steady diet of electronic media communication–to the neglect of interpersonal, intimate interaction with others. Such a child arriving at post-age 25 adulthood would be quite sophisticated in the electronic media world, but would be less capable in other important areas of life. Imagine a person whose spelling lessons were from Twitter only, or whose math ability always required the use of a computer!

The Dana Foundation, an organization advancing brain research, found that the human brain continues to develop its “wiring” diagram well into the mid twenties. The most affected areas of the brain are the frontal lobes, which are critical to the development of high level cognitive skills, such as judgement, intellectual capabilities, and the regulation of emotions. And a Kaiser Foundation study noted that high school students spent about 6.5 hours per day on their computers, supposedly studying, but actually two-thirds of that time was spent on other things, such as playing games, cruising the internet, etc. These students became very good at multi-tasking, but became superficial in many important behavioral skills, and the learning quality was not good. They were spending too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends electronically.

A review of several studies indicates the following results in people who have spent too much time with electronic media:

1. There is depersonalization (lack of empathy) from limited direct contact with people. They often don’t have a good sense of what society’s normal behavior is.
2. They communicate more often– but the quality of their communication is weaker.
3. Kids who spend too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends, rather than being with them personally, are less likely to understand emotions, don’t create strong relationships, and tend to become more dependent on others.
4. Because kids need to be hugged and touched a lot instead of being texted, their overuse of technology directly affects their brain development.
5. The more children interact with others through electronic media, rather than in person, their emotions are connected to the media exchange itself, resulting in a deficit in intimacy need fulfillment.
6. Social media communication makes it easy to “hide”, while still appearing to be okay.
7. Cellphone usage while driving is like driving drunk
8. Technology and screen time rewires brains in certain patterns that can inhibit the development of brain neurological circuits that control more traditional learning, such as reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Any attention deficit disorder causes here?
9. In a 2011 study girls sent about 4000 texts per month, while boys sent around 2800. It doesn’t take much speculation to imagine what that is doing to their developing brains. Not being in substantial, direct contact with others during childhood, rather than being with them personally, makes people less likely to understand emotions, less able to create strong relationships, and tending  to become more dependent on others.

 

Summing all this up shows that parents need to use good sense in allowing their children in the use of all these modern media devices. Obviously there are benefits to learning their use, however, it is abundantly clear that nothing should interfere with also exposing them to an abundance of social interactions;  reading books, magazines, newspapers, and other printed materials where proper English is used; exposure to stimulating conversations face to face; and developing the other skills outlined in this book.

All new inventions and technical advances promote the growth of the human race in many ways. Yet, there is always a downside, or unintended consequences, to these advances. If we were all robots there would be few problems, but the hard reality is we all possess a brain that has been pretty much the same for thousands of years. And this brain, while capable of marvelous things when properly programmed, still requires a lot of good, old-fashioned learning. Make sure your children get it all.

 

( If you like this article, the book to which this article is an addition is available on amazon.com. The reviews have been very favorable. Check them out. You won’t find a book like this one.)

ADDENDUM TO CHAPTER 15 IN JOE’S BOOK, “HOW TO RAISE SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN”  — Joe Wilkins, Copyright © 2015

 

When I wrote the above book, I was not fully aware of the pervasiveness of the electronic media on all our lives. Since the early 1950’s my generation was initially aware of how television was interrupting the study habits of some of our school children, and how many of us had curtailed our reading habits in favor of getting our information and entertainment from television instead. However, in those days it was not  a major problem, and was in fact considered to be a blessing, freeing us from some degree of tediousness and boredom in those who suffered from humdrum lives.

However, in recent years there has been an explosion of electronic devices, beyond the simple television set: cell phones, video games, earphone players, laptops, i-pads, tablets, and numerous other instruments that are quickly becoming integral parts of our lives. In and of themselves, these devices are good for the advancement of civilization–if we use them properly. Communication is easier and faster. Research about particular topics has been greatly facilitated by the availability of the Internet. Commerce, advertising, and shopping can be conducted from home. The future of our technology seems so wonderful that some believe it will promote a world with little or no limits.

Some of these positive dreams will happen, but like with all technology there will be some prices to pay. This article is to up-date my readers with some cautionary considerations with which they may not be aware, and which are especially important for child-rearing parents to know.

In Chapters 4,5,and 6 of my book we discussed, respectively, Thinking, Emotional, and Behavioral/Social skill development in children. Many experts believe that the earliest years, ages 0 to 6, are the most important, setting the stage for the years leading to the teens and adulthood. Everyone is aware of the many trials of the teenage years, but after a few years of awkward growth and development, ending at about age eighteen or so, most people progress on into the adult world feeling they have most of what they need to pursue their life goals. About all else they think will be needed is education to prepare them for specific jobs or careers, usually at college, technical training, or on-the-job instruction.

However, recent neurological and psychological research has now demonstrated that what we used to believe about human growth and development was a book without an ending. There is now a final chapter being written, which we can tentatively title, “The Human Brain Does Not Stop Growing Until About Age 25, Or Thereabouts!” What is being discovered is that parts of the brain continue to grow, developing its unique wiring diagram of neuron connections until the mid-twenties. And the most affected part of the brain is the pre-frontal cortex, where most of our “higher civilization” skills are developed–skills such as rational thinking, socialization, complex abstract reasoning, and other neurological growths that go to produce competent, productive adults.

So what, one may ask, does all this have to do with modern media devices? The crux of the situation is this: the development of certain critical  parts of the brain require extensive face-to-face communication and socialization among children, from birth until the mid twenties. The brain is not finished growing as soon as the child graduates from high school–or college! And the pervasive use of cell phones, i-pads, computers, and other electronic media by developing children and young adults, inhibits the development of those parts of the brain necessary to becoming a complete person!

One may legitimately ask how does being overly involved in the use of  electronic media inhibit the brain from developing to its maximum? It’s a complicated process, but avoiding direct communication with others limits face-to-face interaction, obscures the ability to observe body language, pick up subtle inflections in family and social situations, and other sophisticated nuances that families, tribes, schools, communities, and countries require of our citizens.

Almost all electronic involvement  on computers, the internet, electronic games, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, cellphones, and telephones, in varying degrees, limits the total impact of the communication from one person to another. Can one imagine the messages that a young man and woman would get should the beau propose marriage to his girl over some electronic media, versus doing it in person while holding her hand! Absent would be the smell of her perfume, the cadence of their breathing, the look in both their eyes, the surrounding sounds, the anticipatory expectations, and all the other subtle nuances of the event. And all  the stimuli arising from a personal, face-to-face marriage proposal would have a radically different impact on both their developing brains, versus a proposal made over some electronic media!  And it is the presence of critical, personal stimuli which causes new brain connections to form, many stimuli which would be absent over a cell phone or Twitter.

Back when this counselor was working with mentally ill patients, several professional colleagues in private practice told me how they were doing more “phone counseling and therapy.” Initially, I didn’t know what to make of this, because all my training and experience consisted of dealing with clients face-to-face, either individually or in groups. Phone conversations were to set appointments for direct meetings or other minor issues. Soon, professional journal articles began to appear as to the benefits of this “phone counseling.” I never accepted it, because I always valued all the information I could get by directly observing the client’s body language: pupils in their eyes getting wider or narrower, wringing of hands, perspiring, blushing or blanching, arms defensively crossing, leaning forward or backward, shuffling of feet, smiling or frowning–all non- verbal information important to the situation and permanently being inscribed on their brains in their intellectual and emotional systems. None of this would have been available to me or them over a phone or on Facebook.

Therapy consists of helping clients develop “corrective” programs in their thinking, feeling, and behaving brains, trying to overcome and replace “bad” programs that they learned in earlier years–or never were taught in the first place! Now, imagine a child brought up on a steady diet of electronic media communication–to the neglect of interpersonal, intimate interaction with others. Such a child arriving at post-age 25 adulthood would be quite sophisticated in the electronic media world, but would be less capable in other important areas of life. Imagine a person whose spelling lessons were from Twitter only, or whose math ability always required the use of a computer!

The Dana Foundation, an organization advancing brain research, found that the human brain continues to develop its “wiring” diagram well into the mid twenties. The most affected areas of the brain are the frontal lobes, which are critical to the development of high level cognitive skills, such as judgement, intellectual capabilities, and the regulation of emotions. And a Kaiser Foundation study noted that high school students spent about 6.5 hours per day on their computers, supposedly studying, but actually two-thirds of that time was spent on other things, such as playing games, cruising the internet, etc. These students became very good at multi-tasking, but became superficial in many important behavioral skills, and the learning quality was not good. They were spending too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends electronically.

A review of several studies indicates the following results in people who have spent too much time with electronic media:

1. There is depersonalization (lack of empathy) from limited direct contact with people. They often don’t have a good sense of what society’s normal behavior is.
2. They communicate more often– but the quality of their communication is weaker.
3. Kids who spend too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends, rather than being with them personally, are less likely to understand emotions, don’t create strong relationships, and tend to become more dependent on others.
4. Because kids need to be hugged and touched a lot instead of being texted, their overuse of technology directly affects their brain development.
5. The more children interact with others through electronic media, rather than in person, their emotions are connected to the media exchange itself, resulting in a deficit in intimacy need fulfillment.
6. Social media communication makes it easy to “hide”, while still appearing to be okay.
7. Cellphone usage while driving is like driving drunk
8. Technology and screen time rewires brains in certain patterns that can inhibit the development of brain neurological circuits that control more traditional learning, such as reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Any attention deficit disorder causes here?
9. In a 2011 study girls sent about 4000 texts per month, while boys sent around 2800. It doesn’t take much speculation to imagine what that is doing to their developing brains. Not being in substantial, direct contact with others during childhood, rather than being with them personally, makes people less likely to understand emotions, less able to create strong relationships, and tending  to become more dependent on others.

 

Summing all this up shows that parents need to use good sense in allowing their children in the use of all these modern media devices. Obviously there are benefits to learning their use, however, it is abundantly clear that nothing should interfere with also exposing them to an abundance of social interactions;  reading books, magazines, newspapers, and other printed materials where proper English is used; exposure to stimulating conversations face to face; and developing the other skills outlined in this book.

All new inventions and technical advances promote the growth of the human race in many ways. Yet, there is always a downside, or unintended consequences, to these advances. If we were all robots there would be few problems, but the hard reality is we all possess a brain that has been pretty much the same for thousands of years. And this brain, while capable of marvelous things when properly programmed, still requires a lot of good, old-fashioned learning. Make sure your children get it all.

 

( If you like this article, the book to which this article is an addition is available on amazon.com. The reviews have been very favorable. Check them out. You won’t find a book like this one.)

ADDENDUM TO CHAPTER 15 IN JOE’S BOOK, “HOW TO RAISE SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN”  — Joe Wilkins, Copyright © 2015

 

When I wrote the above book, I was not fully aware of the pervasiveness of the electronic media on all our lives. Since the early 1950’s my generation was initially aware of how television was interrupting the study habits of some of our school children, and how many of us had curtailed our reading habits in favor of getting our information and entertainment from television instead. However, in those days it was not  a major problem, and was in fact considered to be a blessing, freeing us from some degree of tediousness and boredom in those who suffered from humdrum lives.

However, in recent years there has been an explosion of electronic devices, beyond the simple television set: cell phones, video games, earphone players, laptops, i-pads, tablets, and numerous other instruments that are quickly becoming integral parts of our lives. In and of themselves, these devices are good for the advancement of civilization–if we use them properly. Communication is easier and faster. Research about particular topics has been greatly facilitated by the availability of the Internet. Commerce, advertising, and shopping can be conducted from home. The future of our technology seems so wonderful that some believe it will promote a world with little or no limits.

Some of these positive dreams will happen, but like with all technology there will be some prices to pay. This article is to up-date my readers with some cautionary considerations with which they may not be aware, and which are especially important for child-rearing parents to know.

In Chapters 4,5,and 6 of my book we discussed, respectively, Thinking, Emotional, and Behavioral/Social skill development in children. Many experts believe that the earliest years, ages 0 to 6, are the most important, setting the stage for the years leading to the teens and adulthood. Everyone is aware of the many trials of the teenage years, but after a few years of awkward growth and development, ending at about age eighteen or so, most people progress on into the adult world feeling they have most of what they need to pursue their life goals. About all else they think will be needed is education to prepare them for specific jobs or careers, usually at college, technical training, or on-the-job instruction.

However, recent neurological and psychological research has now demonstrated that what we used to believe about human growth and development was a book without an ending. There is now a final chapter being written, which we can tentatively title, “The Human Brain Does Not Stop Growing Until About Age 25, Or Thereabouts!” What is being discovered is that parts of the brain continue to grow, developing its unique wiring diagram of neuron connections until the mid-twenties. And the most affected part of the brain is the pre-frontal cortex, where most of our “higher civilization” skills are developed–skills such as rational thinking, socialization, complex abstract reasoning, and other neurological growths that go to produce competent, productive adults.

So what, one may ask, does all this have to do with modern media devices? The crux of the situation is this: the development of certain critical  parts of the brain require extensive face-to-face communication and socialization among children, from birth until the mid twenties. The brain is not finished growing as soon as the child graduates from high school–or college! And the pervasive use of cell phones, i-pads, computers, and other electronic media by developing children and young adults, inhibits the development of those parts of the brain necessary to becoming a complete person!

One may legitimately ask how does being overly involved in the use of  electronic media inhibit the brain from developing to its maximum? It’s a complicated process, but avoiding direct communication with others limits face-to-face interaction, obscures the ability to observe body language, pick up subtle inflections in family and social situations, and other sophisticated nuances that families, tribes, schools, communities, and countries require of our citizens.

Almost all electronic involvement  on computers, the internet, electronic games, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, cellphones, and telephones, in varying degrees, limits the total impact of the communication from one person to another. Can one imagine the messages that a young man and woman would get should the beau propose marriage to his girl over some electronic media, versus doing it in person while holding her hand! Absent would be the smell of her perfume, the cadence of their breathing, the look in both their eyes, the surrounding sounds, the anticipatory expectations, and all the other subtle nuances of the event. And all  the stimuli arising from a personal, face-to-face marriage proposal would have a radically different impact on both their developing brains, versus a proposal made over some electronic media!  And it is the presence of critical, personal stimuli which causes new brain connections to form, many stimuli which would be absent over a cell phone or Twitter.

Back when this counselor was working with mentally ill patients, several professional colleagues in private practice told me how they were doing more “phone counseling and therapy.” Initially, I didn’t know what to make of this, because all my training and experience consisted of dealing with clients face-to-face, either individually or in groups. Phone conversations were to set appointments for direct meetings or other minor issues. Soon, professional journal articles began to appear as to the benefits of this “phone counseling.” I never accepted it, because I always valued all the information I could get by directly observing the client’s body language: pupils in their eyes getting wider or narrower, wringing of hands, perspiring, blushing or blanching, arms defensively crossing, leaning forward or backward, shuffling of feet, smiling or frowning–all non- verbal information important to the situation and permanently being inscribed on their brains in their intellectual and emotional systems. None of this would have been available to me or them over a phone or on Facebook.

Therapy consists of helping clients develop “corrective” programs in their thinking, feeling, and behaving brains, trying to overcome and replace “bad” programs that they learned in earlier years–or never were taught in the first place! Now, imagine a child brought up on a steady diet of electronic media communication–to the neglect of interpersonal, intimate interaction with others. Such a child arriving at post-age 25 adulthood would be quite sophisticated in the electronic media world, but would be less capable in other important areas of life. Imagine a person whose spelling lessons were from Twitter only, or whose math ability always required the use of a computer!

The Dana Foundation, an organization advancing brain research, found that the human brain continues to develop its “wiring” diagram well into the mid twenties. The most affected areas of the brain are the frontal lobes, which are critical to the development of high level cognitive skills, such as judgement, intellectual capabilities, and the regulation of emotions. And a Kaiser Foundation study noted that high school students spent about 6.5 hours per day on their computers, supposedly studying, but actually two-thirds of that time was spent on other things, such as playing games, cruising the internet, etc. These students became very good at multi-tasking, but became superficial in many important behavioral skills, and the learning quality was not good. They were spending too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends electronically.

A review of several studies indicates the following results in people who have spent too much time with electronic media:

1. There is depersonalization (lack of empathy) from limited direct contact with people. They often don’t have a good sense of what society’s normal behavior is.
2. They communicate more often– but the quality of their communication is weaker.
3. Kids who spend too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends, rather than being with them personally, are less likely to understand emotions, don’t create strong relationships, and tend to become more dependent on others.
4. Because kids need to be hugged and touched a lot instead of being texted, their overuse of technology directly affects their brain development.
5. The more children interact with others through electronic media, rather than in person, their emotions are connected to the media exchange itself, resulting in a deficit in intimacy need fulfillment.
6. Social media communication makes it easy to “hide”, while still appearing to be okay.
7. Cellphone usage while driving is like driving drunk
8. Technology and screen time rewires brains in certain patterns that can inhibit the development of brain neurological circuits that control more traditional learning, such as reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Any attention deficit disorder causes here?
9. In a 2011 study girls sent about 4000 texts per month, while boys sent around 2800. It doesn’t take much speculation to imagine what that is doing to their developing brains. Not being in substantial, direct contact with others during childhood, rather than being with them personally, makes people less likely to understand emotions, less able to create strong relationships, and tending  to become more dependent on others.

 

Summing all this up shows that parents need to use good sense in allowing their children in the use of all these modern media devices. Obviously there are benefits to learning their use, however, it is abundantly clear that nothing should interfere with also exposing them to an abundance of social interactions;  reading books, magazines, newspapers, and other printed materials where proper English is used; exposure to stimulating conversations face to face; and developing the other skills outlined in this book.

All new inventions and technical advances promote the growth of the human race in many ways. Yet, there is always a downside, or unintended consequences, to these advances. If we were all robots there would be few problems, but the hard reality is we all possess a brain that has been pretty much the same for thousands of years. And this brain, while capable of marvelous things when properly programmed, still requires a lot of good, old-fashioned learning. Make sure your children get it all.

 

( If you like this article, the book to which this article is an addition is available on amazon.com. The reviews have been very favorable. Check them out. You won’t find a book like this one.)

ADDENDUM TO CHAPTER 15 IN JOE’S BOOK, “HOW TO RAISE SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN”  — Joe Wilkins, Copyright © 2015

 

When I wrote the above book, I was not fully aware of the pervasiveness of the electronic media on all our lives. Since the early 1950’s my generation was initially aware of how television was interrupting the study habits of some of our school children, and how many of us had curtailed our reading habits in favor of getting our information and entertainment from television instead. However, in those days it was not  a major problem, and was in fact considered to be a blessing, freeing us from some degree of tediousness and boredom in those who suffered from humdrum lives.

However, in recent years there has been an explosion of electronic devices, beyond the simple television set: cell phones, video games, earphone players, laptops, i-pads, tablets, and numerous other instruments that are quickly becoming integral parts of our lives. In and of themselves, these devices are good for the advancement of civilization–if we use them properly. Communication is easier and faster. Research about particular topics has been greatly facilitated by the availability of the Internet. Commerce, advertising, and shopping can be conducted from home. The future of our technology seems so wonderful that some believe it will promote a world with little or no limits.

Some of these positive dreams will happen, but like with all technology there will be some prices to pay. This article is to up-date my readers with some cautionary considerations with which they may not be aware, and which are especially important for child-rearing parents to know.

In Chapters 4,5,and 6 of my book we discussed, respectively, Thinking, Emotional, and Behavioral/Social skill development in children. Many experts believe that the earliest years, ages 0 to 6, are the most important, setting the stage for the years leading to the teens and adulthood. Everyone is aware of the many trials of the teenage years, but after a few years of awkward growth and development, ending at about age eighteen or so, most people progress on into the adult world feeling they have most of what they need to pursue their life goals. About all else they think will be needed is education to prepare them for specific jobs or careers, usually at college, technical training, or on-the-job instruction.

However, recent neurological and psychological research has now demonstrated that what we used to believe about human growth and development was a book without an ending. There is now a final chapter being written, which we can tentatively title, “The Human Brain Does Not Stop Growing Until About Age 25, Or Thereabouts!” What is being discovered is that parts of the brain continue to grow, developing its unique wiring diagram of neuron connections until the mid-twenties. And the most affected part of the brain is the pre-frontal cortex, where most of our “higher civilization” skills are developed–skills such as rational thinking, socialization, complex abstract reasoning, and other neurological growths that go to produce competent, productive adults.

So what, one may ask, does all this have to do with modern media devices? The crux of the situation is this: the development of certain critical  parts of the brain require extensive face-to-face communication and socialization among children, from birth until the mid twenties. The brain is not finished growing as soon as the child graduates from high school–or college! And the pervasive use of cell phones, i-pads, computers, and other electronic media by developing children and young adults, inhibits the development of those parts of the brain necessary to becoming a complete person!

One may legitimately ask how does being overly involved in the use of  electronic media inhibit the brain from developing to its maximum? It’s a complicated process, but avoiding direct communication with others limits face-to-face interaction, obscures the ability to observe body language, pick up subtle inflections in family and social situations, and other sophisticated nuances that families, tribes, schools, communities, and countries require of our citizens.

Almost all electronic involvement  on computers, the internet, electronic games, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, cellphones, and telephones, in varying degrees, limits the total impact of the communication from one person to another. Can one imagine the messages that a young man and woman would get should the beau propose marriage to his girl over some electronic media, versus doing it in person while holding her hand! Absent would be the smell of her perfume, the cadence of their breathing, the look in both their eyes, the surrounding sounds, the anticipatory expectations, and all the other subtle nuances of the event. And all  the stimuli arising from a personal, face-to-face marriage proposal would have a radically different impact on both their developing brains, versus a proposal made over some electronic media!  And it is the presence of critical, personal stimuli which causes new brain connections to form, many stimuli which would be absent over a cell phone or Twitter.

Back when this counselor was working with mentally ill patients, several professional colleagues in private practice told me how they were doing more “phone counseling and therapy.” Initially, I didn’t know what to make of this, because all my training and experience consisted of dealing with clients face-to-face, either individually or in groups. Phone conversations were to set appointments for direct meetings or other minor issues. Soon, professional journal articles began to appear as to the benefits of this “phone counseling.” I never accepted it, because I always valued all the information I could get by directly observing the client’s body language: pupils in their eyes getting wider or narrower, wringing of hands, perspiring, blushing or blanching, arms defensively crossing, leaning forward or backward, shuffling of feet, smiling or frowning–all non- verbal information important to the situation and permanently being inscribed on their brains in their intellectual and emotional systems. None of this would have been available to me or them over a phone or on Facebook.

Therapy consists of helping clients develop “corrective” programs in their thinking, feeling, and behaving brains, trying to overcome and replace “bad” programs that they learned in earlier years–or never were taught in the first place! Now, imagine a child brought up on a steady diet of electronic media communication–to the neglect of interpersonal, intimate interaction with others. Such a child arriving at post-age 25 adulthood would be quite sophisticated in the electronic media world, but would be less capable in other important areas of life. Imagine a person whose spelling lessons were from Twitter only, or whose math ability always required the use of a computer!

The Dana Foundation, an organization advancing brain research, found that the human brain continues to develop its “wiring” diagram well into the mid twenties. The most affected areas of the brain are the frontal lobes, which are critical to the development of high level cognitive skills, such as judgement, intellectual capabilities, and the regulation of emotions. And a Kaiser Foundation study noted that high school students spent about 6.5 hours per day on their computers, supposedly studying, but actually two-thirds of that time was spent on other things, such as playing games, cruising the internet, etc. These students became very good at multi-tasking, but became superficial in many important behavioral skills, and the learning quality was not good. They were spending too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends electronically.

A review of several studies indicates the following results in people who have spent too much time with electronic media:

1. There is depersonalization (lack of empathy) from limited direct contact with people. They often don’t have a good sense of what society’s normal behavior is.
2. They communicate more often– but the quality of their communication is weaker.
3. Kids who spend too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends, rather than being with them personally, are less likely to understand emotions, don’t create strong relationships, and tend to become more dependent on others.
4. Because kids need to be hugged and touched a lot instead of being texted, their overuse of technology directly affects their brain development.
5. The more children interact with others through electronic media, rather than in person, their emotions are connected to the media exchange itself, resulting in a deficit in intimacy need fulfillment.
6. Social media communication makes it easy to “hide”, while still appearing to be okay.
7. Cellphone usage while driving is like driving drunk
8. Technology and screen time rewires brains in certain patterns that can inhibit the development of brain neurological circuits that control more traditional learning, such as reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Any attention deficit disorder causes here?
9. In a 2011 study girls sent about 4000 texts per month, while boys sent around 2800. It doesn’t take much speculation to imagine what that is doing to their developing brains. Not being in substantial, direct contact with others during childhood, rather than being with them personally, makes people less likely to understand emotions, less able to create strong relationships, and tending  to become more dependent on others.

 

Summing all this up shows that parents need to use good sense in allowing their children in the use of all these modern media devices. Obviously there are benefits to learning their use, however, it is abundantly clear that nothing should interfere with also exposing them to an abundance of social interactions;  reading books, magazines, newspapers, and other printed materials where proper English is used; exposure to stimulating conversations face to face; and developing the other skills outlined in this book.

All new inventions and technical advances promote the growth of the human race in many ways. Yet, there is always a downside, or unintended consequences, to these advances. If we were all robots there would be few problems, but the hard reality is we all possess a brain that has been pretty much the same for thousands of years. And this brain, while capable of marvelous things when properly programmed, still requires a lot of good, old-fashioned learning. Make sure your children get it all.

 

( If you like this article, the book to which this article is an addition is available on amazon.com. The reviews have been very favorable. Check them out. You won’t find a book like this one.)

ADDENDUM TO CHAPTER 15 IN JOE’S BOOK, “HOW TO RAISE SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN”  — Joe Wilkins, Copyright © 2015

 

When I wrote the above book, I was not fully aware of the pervasiveness of the electronic media on all our lives. Since the early 1950’s my generation was initially aware of how television was interrupting the study habits of some of our school children, and how many of us had curtailed our reading habits in favor of getting our information and entertainment from television instead. However, in those days it was not  a major problem, and was in fact considered to be a blessing, freeing us from some degree of tediousness and boredom in those who suffered from humdrum lives.

However, in recent years there has been an explosion of electronic devices, beyond the simple television set: cell phones, video games, earphone players, laptops, i-pads, tablets, and numerous other instruments that are quickly becoming integral parts of our lives. In and of themselves, these devices are good for the advancement of civilization–if we use them properly. Communication is easier and faster. Research about particular topics has been greatly facilitated by the availability of the Internet. Commerce, advertising, and shopping can be conducted from home. The future of our technology seems so wonderful that some believe it will promote a world with little or no limits.

Some of these positive dreams will happen, but like with all technology there will be some prices to pay. This article is to up-date my readers with some cautionary considerations with which they may not be aware, and which are especially important for child-rearing parents to know.

In Chapters 4,5,and 6 of my book we discussed, respectively, Thinking, Emotional, and Behavioral/Social skill development in children. Many experts believe that the earliest years, ages 0 to 6, are the most important, setting the stage for the years leading to the teens and adulthood. Everyone is aware of the many trials of the teenage years, but after a few years of awkward growth and development, ending at about age eighteen or so, most people progress on into the adult world feeling they have most of what they need to pursue their life goals. About all else they think will be needed is education to prepare them for specific jobs or careers, usually at college, technical training, or on-the-job instruction.

However, recent neurological and psychological research has now demonstrated that what we used to believe about human growth and development was a book without an ending. There is now a final chapter being written, which we can tentatively title, “The Human Brain Does Not Stop Growing Until About Age 25, Or Thereabouts!” What is being discovered is that parts of the brain continue to grow, developing its unique wiring diagram of neuron connections until the mid-twenties. And the most affected part of the brain is the pre-frontal cortex, where most of our “higher civilization” skills are developed–skills such as rational thinking, socialization, complex abstract reasoning, and other neurological growths that go to produce competent, productive adults.

So what, one may ask, does all this have to do with modern media devices? The crux of the situation is this: the development of certain critical  parts of the brain require extensive face-to-face communication and socialization among children, from birth until the mid twenties. The brain is not finished growing as soon as the child graduates from high school–or college! And the pervasive use of cell phones, i-pads, computers, and other electronic media by developing children and young adults, inhibits the development of those parts of the brain necessary to becoming a complete person!

One may legitimately ask how does being overly involved in the use of  electronic media inhibit the brain from developing to its maximum? It’s a complicated process, but avoiding direct communication with others limits face-to-face interaction, obscures the ability to observe body language, pick up subtle inflections in family and social situations, and other sophisticated nuances that families, tribes, schools, communities, and countries require of our citizens.

Almost all electronic involvement  on computers, the internet, electronic games, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, cellphones, and telephones, in varying degrees, limits the total impact of the communication from one person to another. Can one imagine the messages that a young man and woman would get should the beau propose marriage to his girl over some electronic media, versus doing it in person while holding her hand! Absent would be the smell of her perfume, the cadence of their breathing, the look in both their eyes, the surrounding sounds, the anticipatory expectations, and all the other subtle nuances of the event. And all  the stimuli arising from a personal, face-to-face marriage proposal would have a radically different impact on both their developing brains, versus a proposal made over some electronic media!  And it is the presence of critical, personal stimuli which causes new brain connections to form, many stimuli which would be absent over a cell phone or Twitter.

Back when this counselor was working with mentally ill patients, several professional colleagues in private practice told me how they were doing more “phone counseling and therapy.” Initially, I didn’t know what to make of this, because all my training and experience consisted of dealing with clients face-to-face, either individually or in groups. Phone conversations were to set appointments for direct meetings or other minor issues. Soon, professional journal articles began to appear as to the benefits of this “phone counseling.” I never accepted it, because I always valued all the information I could get by directly observing the client’s body language: pupils in their eyes getting wider or narrower, wringing of hands, perspiring, blushing or blanching, arms defensively crossing, leaning forward or backward, shuffling of feet, smiling or frowning–all non- verbal information important to the situation and permanently being inscribed on their brains in their intellectual and emotional systems. None of this would have been available to me or them over a phone or on Facebook.

Therapy consists of helping clients develop “corrective” programs in their thinking, feeling, and behaving brains, trying to overcome and replace “bad” programs that they learned in earlier years–or never were taught in the first place! Now, imagine a child brought up on a steady diet of electronic media communication–to the neglect of interpersonal, intimate interaction with others. Such a child arriving at post-age 25 adulthood would be quite sophisticated in the electronic media world, but would be less capable in other important areas of life. Imagine a person whose spelling lessons were from Twitter only, or whose math ability always required the use of a computer!

The Dana Foundation, an organization advancing brain research, found that the human brain continues to develop its “wiring” diagram well into the mid twenties. The most affected areas of the brain are the frontal lobes, which are critical to the development of high level cognitive skills, such as judgement, intellectual capabilities, and the regulation of emotions. And a Kaiser Foundation study noted that high school students spent about 6.5 hours per day on their computers, supposedly studying, but actually two-thirds of that time was spent on other things, such as playing games, cruising the internet, etc. These students became very good at multi-tasking, but became superficial in many important behavioral skills, and the learning quality was not good. They were spending too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends electronically.

A review of several studies indicates the following results in people who have spent too much time with electronic media:

1. There is depersonalization (lack of empathy) from limited direct contact with people. They often don’t have a good sense of what society’s normal behavior is.
2. They communicate more often– but the quality of their communication is weaker.
3. Kids who spend too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends, rather than being with them personally, are less likely to understand emotions, don’t create strong relationships, and tend to become more dependent on others.
4. Because kids need to be hugged and touched a lot instead of being texted, their overuse of technology directly affects their brain development.
5. The more children interact with others through electronic media, rather than in person, their emotions are connected to the media exchange itself, resulting in a deficit in intimacy need fulfillment.
6. Social media communication makes it easy to “hide”, while still appearing to be okay.
7. Cellphone usage while driving is like driving drunk
8. Technology and screen time rewires brains in certain patterns that can inhibit the development of brain neurological circuits that control more traditional learning, such as reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Any attention deficit disorder causes here?
9. In a 2011 study girls sent about 4000 texts per month, while boys sent around 2800. It doesn’t take much speculation to imagine what that is doing to their developing brains. Not being in substantial, direct contact with others during childhood, rather than being with them personally, makes people less likely to understand emotions, less able to create strong relationships, and tending  to become more dependent on others.

 

Summing all this up shows that parents need to use good sense in allowing their children in the use of all these modern media devices. Obviously there are benefits to learning their use, however, it is abundantly clear that nothing should interfere with also exposing them to an abundance of social interactions;  reading books, magazines, newspapers, and other printed materials where proper English is used; exposure to stimulating conversations face to face; and developing the other skills outlined in this book.

All new inventions and technical advances promote the growth of the human race in many ways. Yet, there is always a downside, or unintended consequences, to these advances. If we were all robots there would be few problems, but the hard reality is we all possess a brain that has been pretty much the same for thousands of years. And this brain, while capable of marvelous things when properly programmed, still requires a lot of good, old-fashioned learning. Make sure your children get it all.

 

( If you like this article, the book to which this article is an addition is available on amazon.com. The reviews have been very favorable. Check them out. You won’t find a book like this one.)

ADDENDUM TO CHAPTER 15 IN JOE’S BOOK, “HOW TO RAISE SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN”  — Joe Wilkins, Copyright © 2015

 

When I wrote the above book, I was not fully aware of the pervasiveness of the electronic media on all our lives. Since the early 1950’s my generation was initially aware of how television was interrupting the study habits of some of our school children, and how many of us had curtailed our reading habits in favor of getting our information and entertainment from television instead. However, in those days it was not  a major problem, and was in fact considered to be a blessing, freeing us from some degree of tediousness and boredom in those who suffered from humdrum lives.

However, in recent years there has been an explosion of electronic devices, beyond the simple television set: cell phones, video games, earphone players, laptops, i-pads, tablets, and numerous other instruments that are quickly becoming integral parts of our lives. In and of themselves, these devices are good for the advancement of civilization–if we use them properly. Communication is easier and faster. Research about particular topics has been greatly facilitated by the availability of the Internet. Commerce, advertising, and shopping can be conducted from home. The future of our technology seems so wonderful that some believe it will promote a world with little or no limits.

Some of these positive dreams will happen, but like with all technology there will be some prices to pay. This article is to up-date my readers with some cautionary considerations with which they may not be aware, and which are especially important for child-rearing parents to know.

In Chapters 4,5,and 6 of my book we discussed, respectively, Thinking, Emotional, and Behavioral/Social skill development in children. Many experts believe that the earliest years, ages 0 to 6, are the most important, setting the stage for the years leading to the teens and adulthood. Everyone is aware of the many trials of the teenage years, but after a few years of awkward growth and development, ending at about age eighteen or so, most people progress on into the adult world feeling they have most of what they need to pursue their life goals. About all else they think will be needed is education to prepare them for specific jobs or careers, usually at college, technical training, or on-the-job instruction.

However, recent neurological and psychological research has now demonstrated that what we used to believe about human growth and development was a book without an ending. There is now a final chapter being written, which we can tentatively title, “The Human Brain Does Not Stop Growing Until About Age 25, Or Thereabouts!” What is being discovered is that parts of the brain continue to grow, developing its unique wiring diagram of neuron connections until the mid-twenties. And the most affected part of the brain is the pre-frontal cortex, where most of our “higher civilization” skills are developed–skills such as rational thinking, socialization, complex abstract reasoning, and other neurological growths that go to produce competent, productive adults.

So what, one may ask, does all this have to do with modern media devices? The crux of the situation is this: the development of certain critical  parts of the brain require extensive face-to-face communication and socialization among children, from birth until the mid twenties. The brain is not finished growing as soon as the child graduates from high school–or college! And the pervasive use of cell phones, i-pads, computers, and other electronic media by developing children and young adults, inhibits the development of those parts of the brain necessary to becoming a complete person!

One may legitimately ask how does being overly involved in the use of  electronic media inhibit the brain from developing to its maximum? It’s a complicated process, but avoiding direct communication with others limits face-to-face interaction, obscures the ability to observe body language, pick up subtle inflections in family and social situations, and other sophisticated nuances that families, tribes, schools, communities, and countries require of our citizens.

Almost all electronic involvement  on computers, the internet, electronic games, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, cellphones, and telephones, in varying degrees, limits the total impact of the communication from one person to another. Can one imagine the messages that a young man and woman would get should the beau propose marriage to his girl over some electronic media, versus doing it in person while holding her hand! Absent would be the smell of her perfume, the cadence of their breathing, the look in both their eyes, the surrounding sounds, the anticipatory expectations, and all the other subtle nuances of the event. And all  the stimuli arising from a personal, face-to-face marriage proposal would have a radically different impact on both their developing brains, versus a proposal made over some electronic media!  And it is the presence of critical, personal stimuli which causes new brain connections to form, many stimuli which would be absent over a cell phone or Twitter.

Back when this counselor was working with mentally ill patients, several professional colleagues in private practice told me how they were doing more “phone counseling and therapy.” Initially, I didn’t know what to make of this, because all my training and experience consisted of dealing with clients face-to-face, either individually or in groups. Phone conversations were to set appointments for direct meetings or other minor issues. Soon, professional journal articles began to appear as to the benefits of this “phone counseling.” I never accepted it, because I always valued all the information I could get by directly observing the client’s body language: pupils in their eyes getting wider or narrower, wringing of hands, perspiring, blushing or blanching, arms defensively crossing, leaning forward or backward, shuffling of feet, smiling or frowning–all non- verbal information important to the situation and permanently being inscribed on their brains in their intellectual and emotional systems. None of this would have been available to me or them over a phone or on Facebook.

Therapy consists of helping clients develop “corrective” programs in their thinking, feeling, and behaving brains, trying to overcome and replace “bad” programs that they learned in earlier years–or never were taught in the first place! Now, imagine a child brought up on a steady diet of electronic media communication–to the neglect of interpersonal, intimate interaction with others. Such a child arriving at post-age 25 adulthood would be quite sophisticated in the electronic media world, but would be less capable in other important areas of life. Imagine a person whose spelling lessons were from Twitter only, or whose math ability always required the use of a computer!

The Dana Foundation, an organization advancing brain research, found that the human brain continues to develop its “wiring” diagram well into the mid twenties. The most affected areas of the brain are the frontal lobes, which are critical to the development of high level cognitive skills, such as judgement, intellectual capabilities, and the regulation of emotions. And a Kaiser Foundation study noted that high school students spent about 6.5 hours per day on their computers, supposedly studying, but actually two-thirds of that time was spent on other things, such as playing games, cruising the internet, etc. These students became very good at multi-tasking, but became superficial in many important behavioral skills, and the learning quality was not good. They were spending too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends electronically.

A review of several studies indicates the following results in people who have spent too much time with electronic media:

1. There is depersonalization (lack of empathy) from limited direct contact with people. They often don’t have a good sense of what society’s normal behavior is.
2. They communicate more often– but the quality of their communication is weaker.
3. Kids who spend too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends, rather than being with them personally, are less likely to understand emotions, don’t create strong relationships, and tend to become more dependent on others.
4. Because kids need to be hugged and touched a lot instead of being texted, their overuse of technology directly affects their brain development.
5. The more children interact with others through electronic media, rather than in person, their emotions are connected to the media exchange itself, resulting in a deficit in intimacy need fulfillment.
6. Social media communication makes it easy to “hide”, while still appearing to be okay.
7. Cellphone usage while driving is like driving drunk
8. Technology and screen time rewires brains in certain patterns that can inhibit the development of brain neurological circuits that control more traditional learning, such as reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Any attention deficit disorder causes here?
9. In a 2011 study girls sent about 4000 texts per month, while boys sent around 2800. It doesn’t take much speculation to imagine what that is doing to their developing brains. Not being in substantial, direct contact with others during childhood, rather than being with them personally, makes people less likely to understand emotions, less able to create strong relationships, and tending  to become more dependent on others.

 

Summing all this up shows that parents need to use good sense in allowing their children in the use of all these modern media devices. Obviously there are benefits to learning their use, however, it is abundantly clear that nothing should interfere with also exposing them to an abundance of social interactions;  reading books, magazines, newspapers, and other printed materials where proper English is used; exposure to stimulating conversations face to face; and developing the other skills outlined in this book.

All new inventions and technical advances promote the growth of the human race in many ways. Yet, there is always a downside, or unintended consequences, to these advances. If we were all robots there would be few problems, but the hard reality is we all possess a brain that has been pretty much the same for thousands of years. And this brain, while capable of marvelous things when properly programmed, still requires a lot of good, old-fashioned learning. Make sure your children get it all.

 

( If you like this article, the book to which this article is an addition is available on amazon.com. The reviews have been very favorable. Check them out. You won’t find a book like this one.)

ADDENDUM TO CHAPTER 15 IN JOE’S BOOK, “HOW TO RAISE SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN”  — Joe Wilkins, Copyright © 2015

 

When I wrote the above book, I was not fully aware of the pervasiveness of the electronic media on all our lives. Since the early 1950’s my generation was initially aware of how television was interrupting the study habits of some of our school children, and how many of us had curtailed our reading habits in favor of getting our information and entertainment from television instead. However, in those days it was not  a major problem, and was in fact considered to be a blessing, freeing us from some degree of tediousness and boredom in those who suffered from humdrum lives.

However, in recent years there has been an explosion of electronic devices, beyond the simple television set: cell phones, video games, earphone players, laptops, i-pads, tablets, and numerous other instruments that are quickly becoming integral parts of our lives. In and of themselves, these devices are good for the advancement of civilization–if we use them properly. Communication is easier and faster. Research about particular topics has been greatly facilitated by the availability of the Internet. Commerce, advertising, and shopping can be conducted from home. The future of our technology seems so wonderful that some believe it will promote a world with little or no limits.

Some of these positive dreams will happen, but like with all technology there will be some prices to pay. This article is to up-date my readers with some cautionary considerations with which they may not be aware, and which are especially important for child-rearing parents to know.

In Chapters 4,5,and 6 of my book we discussed, respectively, Thinking, Emotional, and Behavioral/Social skill development in children. Many experts believe that the earliest years, ages 0 to 6, are the most important, setting the stage for the years leading to the teens and adulthood. Everyone is aware of the many trials of the teenage years, but after a few years of awkward growth and development, ending at about age eighteen or so, most people progress on into the adult world feeling they have most of what they need to pursue their life goals. About all else they think will be needed is education to prepare them for specific jobs or careers, usually at college, technical training, or on-the-job instruction.

However, recent neurological and psychological research has now demonstrated that what we used to believe about human growth and development was a book without an ending. There is now a final chapter being written, which we can tentatively title, “The Human Brain Does Not Stop Growing Until About Age 25, Or Thereabouts!” What is being discovered is that parts of the brain continue to grow, developing its unique wiring diagram of neuron connections until the mid-twenties. And the most affected part of the brain is the pre-frontal cortex, where most of our “higher civilization” skills are developed–skills such as rational thinking, socialization, complex abstract reasoning, and other neurological growths that go to produce competent, productive adults.

So what, one may ask, does all this have to do with modern media devices? The crux of the situation is this: the development of certain critical  parts of the brain require extensive face-to-face communication and socialization among children, from birth until the mid twenties. The brain is not finished growing as soon as the child graduates from high school–or college! And the pervasive use of cell phones, i-pads, computers, and other electronic media by developing children and young adults, inhibits the development of those parts of the brain necessary to becoming a complete person!

One may legitimately ask how does being overly involved in the use of  electronic media inhibit the brain from developing to its maximum? It’s a complicated process, but avoiding direct communication with others limits face-to-face interaction, obscures the ability to observe body language, pick up subtle inflections in family and social situations, and other sophisticated nuances that families, tribes, schools, communities, and countries require of our citizens.

Almost all electronic involvement  on computers, the internet, electronic games, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, cellphones, and telephones, in varying degrees, limits the total impact of the communication from one person to another. Can one imagine the messages that a young man and woman would get should the beau propose marriage to his girl over some electronic media, versus doing it in person while holding her hand! Absent would be the smell of her perfume, the cadence of their breathing, the look in both their eyes, the surrounding sounds, the anticipatory expectations, and all the other subtle nuances of the event. And all  the stimuli arising from a personal, face-to-face marriage proposal would have a radically different impact on both their developing brains, versus a proposal made over some electronic media!  And it is the presence of critical, personal stimuli which causes new brain connections to form, many stimuli which would be absent over a cell phone or Twitter.

Back when this counselor was working with mentally ill patients, several professional colleagues in private practice told me how they were doing more “phone counseling and therapy.” Initially, I didn’t know what to make of this, because all my training and experience consisted of dealing with clients face-to-face, either individually or in groups. Phone conversations were to set appointments for direct meetings or other minor issues. Soon, professional journal articles began to appear as to the benefits of this “phone counseling.” I never accepted it, because I always valued all the information I could get by directly observing the client’s body language: pupils in their eyes getting wider or narrower, wringing of hands, perspiring, blushing or blanching, arms defensively crossing, leaning forward or backward, shuffling of feet, smiling or frowning–all non- verbal information important to the situation and permanently being inscribed on their brains in their intellectual and emotional systems. None of this would have been available to me or them over a phone or on Facebook.

Therapy consists of helping clients develop “corrective” programs in their thinking, feeling, and behaving brains, trying to overcome and replace “bad” programs that they learned in earlier years–or never were taught in the first place! Now, imagine a child brought up on a steady diet of electronic media communication–to the neglect of interpersonal, intimate interaction with others. Such a child arriving at post-age 25 adulthood would be quite sophisticated in the electronic media world, but would be less capable in other important areas of life. Imagine a person whose spelling lessons were from Twitter only, or whose math ability always required the use of a computer!

The Dana Foundation, an organization advancing brain research, found that the human brain continues to develop its “wiring” diagram well into the mid twenties. The most affected areas of the brain are the frontal lobes, which are critical to the development of high level cognitive skills, such as judgement, intellectual capabilities, and the regulation of emotions. And a Kaiser Foundation study noted that high school students spent about 6.5 hours per day on their computers, supposedly studying, but actually two-thirds of that time was spent on other things, such as playing games, cruising the internet, etc. These students became very good at multi-tasking, but became superficial in many important behavioral skills, and the learning quality was not good. They were spending too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends electronically.

A review of several studies indicates the following results in people who have spent too much time with electronic media:

1. There is depersonalization (lack of empathy) from limited direct contact with people. They often don’t have a good sense of what society’s normal behavior is.
2. They communicate more often– but the quality of their communication is weaker.
3. Kids who spend too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends, rather than being with them personally, are less likely to understand emotions, don’t create strong relationships, and tend to become more dependent on others.
4. Because kids need to be hugged and touched a lot instead of being texted, their overuse of technology directly affects their brain development.
5. The more children interact with others through electronic media, rather than in person, their emotions are connected to the media exchange itself, resulting in a deficit in intimacy need fulfillment.
6. Social media communication makes it easy to “hide”, while still appearing to be okay.
7. Cellphone usage while driving is like driving drunk
8. Technology and screen time rewires brains in certain patterns that can inhibit the development of brain neurological circuits that control more traditional learning, such as reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Any attention deficit disorder causes here?
9. In a 2011 study girls sent about 4000 texts per month, while boys sent around 2800. It doesn’t take much speculation to imagine what that is doing to their developing brains. Not being in substantial, direct contact with others during childhood, rather than being with them personally, makes people less likely to understand emotions, less able to create strong relationships, and tending  to become more dependent on others.

 

Summing all this up shows that parents need to use good sense in allowing their children in the use of all these modern media devices. Obviously there are benefits to learning their use, however, it is abundantly clear that nothing should interfere with also exposing them to an abundance of social interactions;  reading books, magazines, newspapers, and other printed materials where proper English is used; exposure to stimulating conversations face to face; and developing the other skills outlined in this book.

All new inventions and technical advances promote the growth of the human race in many ways. Yet, there is always a downside, or unintended consequences, to these advances. If we were all robots there would be few problems, but the hard reality is we all possess a brain that has been pretty much the same for thousands of years. And this brain, while capable of marvelous things when properly programmed, still requires a lot of good, old-fashioned learning. Make sure your children get it all.

 

( If you like this article, the book to which this article is an addition is available on amazon.com. The reviews have been very favorable. Check them out. You won’t find a book like this one.)

ADDENDUM TO CHAPTER 15 IN JOE’S BOOK, “HOW TO RAISE SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN”  — Joe Wilkins, Copyright © 2015

 

When I wrote the above book, I was not fully aware of the pervasiveness of the electronic media on all our lives. Since the early 1950’s my generation was initially aware of how television was interrupting the study habits of some of our school children, and how many of us had curtailed our reading habits in favor of getting our information and entertainment from television instead. However, in those days it was not  a major problem, and was in fact considered to be a blessing, freeing us from some degree of tediousness and boredom in those who suffered from humdrum lives.

However, in recent years there has been an explosion of electronic devices, beyond the simple television set: cell phones, video games, earphone players, laptops, i-pads, tablets, and numerous other instruments that are quickly becoming integral parts of our lives. In and of themselves, these devices are good for the advancement of civilization–if we use them properly. Communication is easier and faster. Research about particular topics has been greatly facilitated by the availability of the Internet. Commerce, advertising, and shopping can be conducted from home. The future of our technology seems so wonderful that some believe it will promote a world with little or no limits.

Some of these positive dreams will happen, but like with all technology there will be some prices to pay. This article is to up-date my readers with some cautionary considerations with which they may not be aware, and which are especially important for child-rearing parents to know.

In Chapters 4,5,and 6 of my book we discussed, respectively, Thinking, Emotional, and Behavioral/Social skill development in children. Many experts believe that the earliest years, ages 0 to 6, are the most important, setting the stage for the years leading to the teens and adulthood. Everyone is aware of the many trials of the teenage years, but after a few years of awkward growth and development, ending at about age eighteen or so, most people progress on into the adult world feeling they have most of what they need to pursue their life goals. About all else they think will be needed is education to prepare them for specific jobs or careers, usually at college, technical training, or on-the-job instruction.

However, recent neurological and psychological research has now demonstrated that what we used to believe about human growth and development was a book without an ending. There is now a final chapter being written, which we can tentatively title, “The Human Brain Does Not Stop Growing Until About Age 25, Or Thereabouts!” What is being discovered is that parts of the brain continue to grow, developing its unique wiring diagram of neuron connections until the mid-twenties. And the most affected part of the brain is the pre-frontal cortex, where most of our “higher civilization” skills are developed–skills such as rational thinking, socialization, complex abstract reasoning, and other neurological growths that go to produce competent, productive adults.

So what, one may ask, does all this have to do with modern media devices? The crux of the situation is this: the development of certain critical  parts of the brain require extensive face-to-face communication and socialization among children, from birth until the mid twenties. The brain is not finished growing as soon as the child graduates from high school–or college! And the pervasive use of cell phones, i-pads, computers, and other electronic media by developing children and young adults, inhibits the development of those parts of the brain necessary to becoming a complete person!

One may legitimately ask how does being overly involved in the use of  electronic media inhibit the brain from developing to its maximum? It’s a complicated process, but avoiding direct communication with others limits face-to-face interaction, obscures the ability to observe body language, pick up subtle inflections in family and social situations, and other sophisticated nuances that families, tribes, schools, communities, and countries require of our citizens.

Almost all electronic involvement  on computers, the internet, electronic games, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, cellphones, and telephones, in varying degrees, limits the total impact of the communication from one person to another. Can one imagine the messages that a young man and woman would get should the beau propose marriage to his girl over some electronic media, versus doing it in person while holding her hand! Absent would be the smell of her perfume, the cadence of their breathing, the look in both their eyes, the surrounding sounds, the anticipatory expectations, and all the other subtle nuances of the event. And all  the stimuli arising from a personal, face-to-face marriage proposal would have a radically different impact on both their developing brains, versus a proposal made over some electronic media!  And it is the presence of critical, personal stimuli which causes new brain connections to form, many stimuli which would be absent over a cell phone or Twitter.

Back when this counselor was working with mentally ill patients, several professional colleagues in private practice told me how they were doing more “phone counseling and therapy.” Initially, I didn’t know what to make of this, because all my training and experience consisted of dealing with clients face-to-face, either individually or in groups. Phone conversations were to set appointments for direct meetings or other minor issues. Soon, professional journal articles began to appear as to the benefits of this “phone counseling.” I never accepted it, because I always valued all the information I could get by directly observing the client’s body language: pupils in their eyes getting wider or narrower, wringing of hands, perspiring, blushing or blanching, arms defensively crossing, leaning forward or backward, shuffling of feet, smiling or frowning–all non- verbal information important to the situation and permanently being inscribed on their brains in their intellectual and emotional systems. None of this would have been available to me or them over a phone or on Facebook.

Therapy consists of helping clients develop “corrective” programs in their thinking, feeling, and behaving brains, trying to overcome and replace “bad” programs that they learned in earlier years–or never were taught in the first place! Now, imagine a child brought up on a steady diet of electronic media communication–to the neglect of interpersonal, intimate interaction with others. Such a child arriving at post-age 25 adulthood would be quite sophisticated in the electronic media world, but would be less capable in other important areas of life. Imagine a person whose spelling lessons were from Twitter only, or whose math ability always required the use of a computer!

The Dana Foundation, an organization advancing brain research, found that the human brain continues to develop its “wiring” diagram well into the mid twenties. The most affected areas of the brain are the frontal lobes, which are critical to the development of high level cognitive skills, such as judgement, intellectual capabilities, and the regulation of emotions. And a Kaiser Foundation study noted that high school students spent about 6.5 hours per day on their computers, supposedly studying, but actually two-thirds of that time was spent on other things, such as playing games, cruising the internet, etc. These students became very good at multi-tasking, but became superficial in many important behavioral skills, and the learning quality was not good. They were spending too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends electronically.

A review of several studies indicates the following results in people who have spent too much time with electronic media:

1. There is depersonalization (lack of empathy) from limited direct contact with people. They often don’t have a good sense of what society’s normal behavior is.
2. They communicate more often– but the quality of their communication is weaker.
3. Kids who spend too much time in front of a media screen, communicating with their friends, rather than being with them personally, are less likely to understand emotions, don’t create strong relationships, and tend to become more dependent on others.
4. Because kids need to be hugged and touched a lot instead of being texted, their overuse of technology directly affects their brain development.
5. The more children interact with others through electronic media, rather than in person, their emotions are connected to the media exchange itself, resulting in a deficit in intimacy need fulfillment.
6. Social media communication makes it easy to “hide”, while still appearing to be okay.
7. Cellphone usage while driving is like driving drunk
8. Technology and screen time rewires brains in certain patterns that can inhibit the development of brain neurological circuits that control more traditional learning, such as reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Any attention deficit disorder causes here?
9. In a 2011 study girls sent about 4000 texts per month, while boys sent around 2800. It doesn’t take much speculation to imagine what that is doing to their developing brains. Not being in substantial, direct contact with others during childhood, rather than being with them personally, makes people less likely to understand emotions, less able to create strong relationships, and tending  to become more dependent on others.

 

Summing all this up shows that parents need to use good sense in allowing their children in the use of all these modern media devices. Obviously there are benefits to learning their use, however, it is abundantly clear that nothing should interfere with also exposing them to an abundance of social interactions;  reading books, magazines, newspapers, and other printed materials where proper English is used; exposure to stimulating conversations face to face; and developing the other skills outlined in this book.

All new inventions and technical advances promote the growth of the human race in many ways. Yet, there is always a downside, or unintended consequences, to these advances. If we were all robots there would be few problems, but the hard reality is we all possess a brain that has been pretty much the same for thousands of years. And this brain, while capable of marvelous things when properly programmed, still requires a lot of good, old-fashioned learning. Make sure your children get it all.

 

( If you like this article, the book to which this article is an addition is available on amazon.com. The reviews have been very favorable. Check them out. You won’t find a book like this one.)

 

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT

By

Joe Wilkins

Copyright © 2015

 

The butterfly effect is a phrase that is being used more these days, but very few people really know what it means or how the term originated. However, to those readers who like to contemplate the mysterious, metaphysical aspects of our lives, I am hopeful this article will be of interest and benefit.

A useful definition of the term, butterfly effect, would be: Any event that occurs now, inevitably dictates or changes certain things in the future, but those future events are usually impossible to predict.

Let’s look at a hypothetical example: In our first scenario Little Bobby is up at bat for his Little League team in the final championship game in the bottom of the last inning. The bases are loaded and his team  is behind three runs—needing four runs to win. Bobby proceeds to hit a grand slam homerun, and his team wins. He is instantly a hero. In the aftermath, in his community, he becomes the boy that all remember, and he receives much respect and adulation. This in turn convinces him that he is a good athlete and should consider taking baseball very seriously during the rest of his life. Because of this he puts much more effort into baseball, wins a college scholarship, plays well in college, gets professional offers, goes to the minor leagues, but gets hurt and can play no more. He spends the rest of his life working as a salesman, a job he doesn’t much like, but which provides a modest living for him and his family.

In the alternative to the above scenario, instead of hitting the home run, he strikes out and his team goes down in disappointing defeat. He is disappointed that he did not get a hit, that he let his team down, and soon thereafter begins to lose his passion for baseball. Instead, he puts more energy into his other interests, especially science, going on to college and becoming a civil engineer, working on many satisfying building projects. Later, he starts his own construction company and becomes quite wealthy.

Thus, the reader can see that in that one instant of time, with that final swing of the bat—one time hitting the ball for a home run, the second time striking out—Bobby’s life is completely altered onto two different pathways. Of course, in both of the above scenarios there were other butterfly effect moments in Bobby’s life as he followed each particular pathway, but the key moment was the swing of the bat, and whether he hit the ball—or missed!

An axiom of the butterfly effect would be this: After each  episode in life, there always follows a particular set of circumstances and events that emerge  from that event. Rephrased, following each behavior there always follow particular circumstances, some of which are of our choosing, but many of which lead to “unintended consequences.” Some common examples that lead to differing results are: marrying one girl or husband instead of another; accepting a particular job; moving into a certain neighborhood; walking down a particular street and getting robbed; a golfer selecting a four iron over a five iron, and getting a hole-in-one; driving down an alternative street and getting into an auto accident. It is easy to see that in many ways life is like a crap game. We toss the dice and get different results most of the time.

But now, dear reader, you must be wondering what has all this to do with butterflies and their effects? Where did that term come from and how does it relate to what has been discussed thus far?

How I came upon this concept is rather unusual. It was the Fall of 1953, I was in the 11^th grade, reading an EC Comics, science-fiction, comic book story. The story was set in the year 2055, and time travel was an established activity. One particular company promoted safaris, whereby, for a considerable fee, hunters could travel back to the age of dinosaurs, and shoot a T-Rex dinosaur for a trophy. When the hunter and guides arrived at their destination, they were required to remain on “levitation pathways,” which suspended them above ground so as not to contact the environment and disturb anything. When the hunter, a man named Echels, confronts a T-Rex, the ferocious beast terrifies him, and he jumps off the pathway and runs through the jungle. His guides are furious with him, but they have to kill the T-Rex for their own safety. They locate Echels, then make him do some needed things to minimize the “damage.” Then all return to the year 2055.

However, when they get back, they notice some drastic changes in their society: English words are spelled and spoken strangely, people behave differently–and election results for the President have been reversed from what they were when they left. When Echels sits and takes his muddy boots off, he notices a crushed butterfly on his sole, and it is clear that the death of that butterfly, crushed as he ran in panic through the jungle back in pre-history, set off a chain of events that altered history thereafter. Thus, the phrase, butterfly effect, had its beginnings. In the following years, others have picked up on the phrase, especially weather scientists and forecasters.

I later learned that this EC Comics story was excerpted from a short story, “A Sound of Thunder,” written by famous science-fiction writer, Ray Bradbury, for Collier’s magazine, issue of 6/28/1952, and was later re-published In Playboy magazine in June, 1956. There was a movie made based on the story, but it was poorly done, and has deservedly been mostly forgotten.

What is the point of all this, you may ask? Surely this is something of interest only to philosophically-minded people. What has it got to do with my life? Good questions.

Let me illustrate with  two personal examples.

My maternal grandfather, Ballard Lynch, was an Army surgeon. He was drafted in 1918 and sent to the battlefields of France. He was newly married and had his only child, my mother, just three months before he was shipped overseas. He saw my mother, as an infant, just a few times. In France, he was immediately sent to the front lines to address the wounds of the American soldiers. In a makeshift “hospital,” consisting of blankets and cots on the ground, he and two other doctors were attending to the wounded. Suddenly, an artillery shell hit next to them killing him and one other doctor. This was just two weeks before the war ended. That shell, killing him was a “butterfly” moment for me. Tragic as it was, it forever altered my maternal grandmother’s life, thrusting her onto a life’s pathway she otherwise would not have been on. It led to my mother being raised in a different community and under different circumstances than would have never otherwise happened, whereby she grew up, met, and married my father, producing me, my brother and sister. Without grandfather’s  death I would not exist, much less be writing on this subject. A sadness that I feel about my grandfather was that I never got to know and enjoy life with him, and the despair I feel when I think about the fact that without his death in France, I wouldn’t exist.

A second instance occurred with my paternal grandfather, in frontier Colorado in the early 1900’s, when there occurred an event which guaranteed my existence. Grandfather escaped from a fall down  into a deep well, miles from anyone on the prairie. His escape efforts are described elsewhere on this web site, under the category, Remembrances, “A Western Story.” The fact that he escaped near death, enabled him to later have my father. If he had died, I would not exist.

Therefore, we can see that each of our existences is strongly dictated by chance, or types of butterfly effects. While I am glad I had the opportunity to live and experience life, I am also acutely aware of how chancy and fragile life can be. We are each the product of countless butterfly effects, leading to our very existence, our good fortunes, and even the bad things that happen to us.  To minimize the negative consequences we need to control future butterfly effects as best we can by examining our current behavior and following those pathways that have the highest probability of leading to good outcomes. However, the follow-up of unintended consequences is often hard to overcome. (Politicians, please pay attention!)

Perhaps, the greatest positive outcome of a specific butterfly effect, was the crucifixion of Jesus. Suppose Pontius Pilate had ignored the crowds and freed Jesus instead of Barabbas. What would have followed? Who knows.

Elsewhere on this website is a contemplative-opinion article, entitled “Searching for God,” under the Religious/Spiritual category. When I wrote this article I did not have the butterfly effect in mind, but it is a fact that the very creation of our solar system, as it is now structured, is the result of a series of cosmic, butterfly effects.

To thinking people, there is nothing new about all this. We all know that B follows A—as well as X, Y, Z, and a bunch of other things! We just need to take reasonable care with our behavior, so that which follows is most likely what we desire.