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    Screen Time, Digital Drug: Brain Images Show It’s As Addictive As Opioids

    2.8MViews Modified: Mar 8, 2023 · Published: Oct 8, 2017
    By Jacqueline 9 Comments

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    Screen Time, Digital Drug: Brain Images Show It's As Addictive As Opioids. A young boy, all alone, fixated on a screen

    Screen time, in its multiple forms, will be part of your children’s lives at some point. But parents must ask themselves how early and to what extent?

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    Is Screen Time an Educational Edge?

    Some parents think they’re giving their child an educational edge like Susan who bought her 6-year-old son John an iPad when he was in first grade. “She thought, ‘Why not let him get a jump on things?’ John’s school had begun using the devices with younger and younger grades – and his technology teacher had raved about their educational benefits.

    Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, one of the country’s foremost addiction experts who counseled Susan and her son John, writes, “She started giving John screen time to play different educational games on his iPad. Soon, he discovered Minecraft, which a teacher assured was “just like electronic Lego.” She remembered how much fun she had as a child building Legos. At first, Susan was pleased. John seemed engaged in creative play. She did notice that the game wasn’t quite like the Legos she remembered – after all, she didn’t have to kill animals and find rare minerals to survive and get to the next level with her old game. But the school even had a Minecraft club, so how bad could it be?”

    “John became more and more focused on his digital game, losing interest in baseball and reading while refusing to do his chores. As his behavior continued to deteriorate, Susan tried to take the game away but John threw temper tantrums. His outbursts were so severe that she gave in, still rationalizing to herself over and over again that “it’s educational.”

    But it’s even worse than we think.

    Dose Of Reality

    There’s a line; cross it and parents may actually unintentionally be doing significantly more harm than good.

    “Tablets are the ultimate shortcut tools: Unlike a mother reading a story to a child, for example, a smartphone-told story spoon-feeds images, words, and pictures all at once to a young reader. Rather than having to take the time to process a mother’s voice into words, visualize complete pictures and exert the mental effort to follow a story line, kids who follow stories on their smartphones get lazy. The device does the thinking for them, and as a result, their own cognitive muscles remain weak.” ~Liraz Margalit Ph.D

    Digest the information below on screen time, even though it might feel uncomfortable, and arm yourself with the truth about the potential damage screen time is capable of imparting – particularly in a young, still-developing brain.

    Low Tech Parenting

    “There’s a reason Steve Jobs was a conscientiously low-tech parent. Silicon Valley tech executives and engineers enroll their kids in no-tech Montessori or Waldorf schools. Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page went to no-tech Montessori Schools, as did Amazon creator Jeff Bezos and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.” (source)

    Screen Time, a Digital Drug

    We now know that smartphones, iPads, and Xboxes are a form of digital drug. Recent brain imaging research is showing that they affect the brain’s frontal cortex – which controls executive functioning, including impulse control – in exactly the same way that cocaine does. Technology is so hyper-arousing that it raises dopamine levels — the feel-good neurotransmitter most involved in the addiction dynamic – as much as opioids and sex.

    Victoria L. Dunckley M.D says, Too Much Screen Time Damages the Brain.

    Screen Time, Digital Drug: Brain Images Show It's As Addictive As Opioids, limiting online time, Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, addiction expert, child counselor, educational games, iPad, electronic Lego, Legos, creative play, find rare minerals, Minecraft club, digital game, gaming, behavior, temper tantrums, outbursts, refusing to do chores, tablets, smartphone, shortcut tool, images, spoonfeeding, lazy learning, dumbing down, mental effort, developing brain, low-tech parent, Steve Jobs, Silicon Valley, no-tech Montessoru schools, Waldorf schools, Xboxes, brain imaging research, science, frontal cortex, impulse control, executive functioning, cocaine, dopamine levels, technology, feel-good neurotransmitter, addiction, sex, Dr. Victoria L. Dunckley, exposure, sensory overload, lack of sleep, hyper-aroused nervous system, electronic screen syndrome, impulsive, moody, can't pay attention, rewire, train, delayed gratification, bored time, creativity, set limits, monotonous work, early years, work ethic, parenting, Victoria Prooday, strengthen brain, 

    Source: Lin, Zhou,Lei, et al. Red areas designate abnormal white matter in internet addicted kids.

    But what about kids who aren’t “addicted” per se to screen time?

    Let’s be clear!

    Even in children with “regular” exposure, we should be aware that screen time is creating subtle damage considering the “average” child clocks in more than seven hours a day (Rideout 2010).

    30 Tips for Parents
    Get your PDF: 30 Tips to Help Parents of Boys!

    As a doctor, Dunckley observes that many of the children she sees suffer from sensory overload, lack of restorative sleep, and a hyper-aroused nervous system, regardless of diagnosis—what she calls electronic screen syndrome. These children are impulsive, moody, and can’t pay attention – much like the damage seen in these scans above. (source)

    Weaning from Screen Time and Retraining

    Unfortunately, screen time has replaced the outdoor time and become a kind of babysitter. Children used to play outside, where, in unstructured natural environments, they learned and practiced their social skills.

    And like the story of Susan and her son John, we need to get our children back to playing with Legos and toys that don’t think for them!

    Scientist know we can train and retrain the brain. It is moldable. Through our environment, we can make the brain weaker or make it stronger. Despite everything we might think is good – like electronic ‘educational’ games – we have unfortunately remolded our children’s brains in the wrong direction.

    We can rewire and retrain the brain by being intentional. It’s so much easier to start young!

    Victoria Prooday, OT writes:

    1. Train delayed gratification.

    • Make them wait!!! It is ok to have “I am bored“ time – this is the first step to creativity
    • Gradually increase the waiting time between “I want” and “I get”
    • Avoid technology use in cars and restaurants, and instead teach them waiting while talking and playing games

    2. Don’t be afraid to set the limits. Kids need limits to grow happy and healthy!!

    • Make a schedule for meal times, sleep times, technology time
    • Think of what is GOOD for them- not what they WANT/DON’T WANT. They are going to thank you for that later on in life.
    • Limit constant snacking. Parenting is a hard job.

    3. Teach your child to do monotonous work from early years as it is the foundation for future “workability”.

    • Folding laundry, tidying up toys, hanging clothes, unpacking groceries, setting the table, making lunch, unpacking their lunch box, making their bed (source)

    4. Have fun with your children.

    • Read aloud, wrestle with your kids, make a Mexican or Italian meal together, do a family game night or a treasure hunt in the house or yard. Push the table aside and dance with them, laugh about what they did when they were really little, take walks and look at the clouds! (source)
    30 Tips for Parents
    Get your PDF: 30 Tips to Help Parents of Boys!

    “Kids will change when parents change their perspective on parenting.  Help your children succeed in life by training and strengthening their brain sooner rather than later!” ~Victoria Prooday

    Remember, parenting is about progress, NOT about perfection! You are reading about this because you are a parent who wants to do all you can to help and advance your child in the right direction.

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    You can do it!!

    Want to do an intervention with your child? Screentime Intervention Helps Angry, Depressed & Unmotivated Kids

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    Screen Time, Digital Drug: Brain Images Show It's As Addictive As Opioids. A young child totally focused on his iPad,
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    Hi! I’m Jacqueline!

    Thanks for being part of this journey with me.
    Welcome to my own little place on the internet! Home is where I love to be. I feel there is no greater place to incubate souls. These days you’ll find me using my experiences here to write about herbal remedies and natural health research — a big passion of mine. But being a wife and mother is not easy. It is challenging and potentially lonely. I get that. I wanted to create a place to connect with and support other moms for creating a natural, healthy, and fulfilling home life.
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Charlotte Moore

      October 10, 2017 at 2:21 am

      My goodness, this is more of a serious problem than I would have ever thought.

      Thanks for sharing!

      BLESSINGS!

      Reply
    2. Amber Harrop

      October 22, 2017 at 6:08 pm

      I believe this is true I have noticed that more and more kids are struggling with screen time

      Reply
    3. Shiree Burch

      October 22, 2017 at 10:27 pm

      Thank you for this article. Such good information we parents need to know.

      Reply
      • Jacqueline

        October 22, 2017 at 10:36 pm

        Thank YOU, Shiree!

        Reply
    4. Rebecca Barranca

      December 22, 2019 at 10:18 pm

      Thank you for reposting this, it is always a timely reminder!

      Reply
    5. john carter

      October 19, 2020 at 5:13 am

      thank you so much for this kind of article, we are also work on this types of blogs
      https://mytechsense.com/ways-to-reduce-gadget-addiction/

      Reply
    6. hkmt

      June 22, 2021 at 8:53 am

      Thank you for reposting this, it is always a timely reminder!

      Reply
    7. Ann Alexander

      March 12, 2022 at 5:49 pm

      We at ZOE Ministries International would love to use your Screen-Time Syndrome article published by Samaritan Ministries in 2018 for our new parenting course, How to Hear God’s Voice In Family.
      May we have permission to re-print it and translate it?
      You can see our website at zoeministries.org.

      Reply
      • Jacqueline

        March 12, 2022 at 7:21 pm

        Hi, Ann,
        I will email you.
        Blessings,
        Jacque

        Reply

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