Sorry this is such a late post, but kind of playing catch up this evening. I have been thinking about Sir Robinson's illustration (which was super creative and fully entertaining), and comparing it to the book I read for class called the Nature Deficit Disorder. It's true that today's child is completely over stimulated, too plugged in, too distracted etc . The book definitely referenced a correlation between the rise in electronic devices etc. and ADD and ADHD. It's funny, last week I blogged about inclusion, and referenced a severely hyperactive child who has been included in my daughter's class for 3 years now. This little boy is extreme I think. I know him pretty well as he is our next door neighbor. This kid is on him x box in the morning before he goes to school, takes an ipod to school and plays with it a recess, has a DX hand held thing, and is just constantly "plugged in". In addition, he is in a day care program with 100 other kids in the cafeteria one hour before school, and every day after school until 5:30 or 6:00. I think it's fair to say that an environment like that with a ton of other kids in a loud school cafeteria is an environment which provides a lot of stimulation. The poor kid never has quite time. Maybe that's why he has such trouble sitting in a classroom for any period of time. Certainly, it's not the only factor for this little boy, but I'm sure it's an important one.
Sadly, I think as a society we are headed toward environments that provide yet only more stimulation, not less. We live in a busy society and are surrounded by every sort of electrical device you could imagine. The book I read would argue that by unplugging our children, and returning more to the out doors, a therapeutic environment would be provided and behavior would improve. This is something I certainly practice as a parent, and it seems to be working so far.
I too was late with my post, so maybe you will have time to read and comment on mine as well . I, as you, found the video totally entertaining and thought provoking. Particularly, the ADHD – map of prescriptions across the U.S. going eastward. Robinson talks about all of the electronic distractions in our current environment, and penalizing kids for being distracted from “boring stuff” in the classroom. The increase in ADHD prescriptions has risen in parallel to growth of standardized testing, is this coincidence?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Lisa, children need a time to not be plugged in. I think every child needs to have a time during the day where they aren't plugged in. I am lucky enough to coach and have the influence over my athletes to require them to not bring their phones, ipods, etc to practice. Also when we have conversations they have to put all of their electronics away...it has been really helpful in our relationships with our athletes. Lisa I like that you unplug your kids...I think it helps.
ReplyDeleteMy family was a very outdoorsie family. We went camping 2 to 3 times a year. As we were headed to the site, at some point my dad would say "ok now turn off all electronics and stowe them." We would moan and groan about having to that, but in many way it has taught to enjoy the natural environment around me on a daily basis. I definitely think kids are way to pulled today. What happened to parents telling their kids to pick up a book and read or go outside and play! That great you unplug your kids, I hope to do the same someday with mine.
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