Addicted and Disconnected

Addicted and disconnected. It seems like the more access we have to smartphones, iPads, tablets, and computers and the information they provide the more detached and disengaged we are becoming. And, make no mistake the creators of social media sites have and will continue to exploit the vulnerability in human psychology.

Here are some sobering facts for you:

1. Pre-teens spend at least 8 hours a day 7/24 in front of a screen.
2. Teenagers spend up to 11 hours a day 7/24 in front of a screen.
3. Research shows that anyone who spends more than one hour a day online will have the activity patterns of their brains changed dramatically.
4. Sixty-four percent of households leave the television on during dinner.
5. Sixty percent of eleven to fourteen-year-olds play violent video games. Seventy-two percent of fifteen to eighteen-year-olds play violent video games.
6. The average parent spends on 3.5 minutes a week, yes a week, in direct connection with their children.

The copious amount of time that we are spending on our devices is changing the neuroplasticity of our brains. Young children and teenagers are the most at risk because their brains are most malleable and able to adapt to what they are being exposed to, all leading to mental and emotional health issues.

We Are In Trouble

We are in trouble folks and if you don’t believe it, or don’t want to believe it, watch this video and then pick up a copy of Thomas J. Kersting’s book called Disconnected: How to Reconnect Our Digitally Distracted Kids. If this doesn’t scare the hell out of you, I don’t know what will. The question is, what are each of us willing to do about it?

Watch This

Read This

In Disconnected, renowned psychotherapist and longtime school counselor Tom Kersting explores the device-dependent world our children live in and how it is impacting their mental and emotional well-being. Research shows that too much time in the cyber world is re-wiring kids’ brains, affecting their ability to flourish in the real world as anxiety, depression, and attention issues soar.

Stay true and be you —

Annie