Bullies, fights, gangs, rape, murder... how much is linked to media violence?
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 During workshops on the impact of technology on the developing child, I was asked the same question repeatedly by parents: "Will children who don't use violent technology be able to defend themselves from bullies who do"? These parents apparently thought that by allowing their children exposure to media violence, the consequent aggression would somehow enable them to defend themselves. This is the same reasoning applied in countries who think that the right to bear arms will protect its citizens, when we know the result has been an explosion in weapon-related deaths. Violence breeds violence, and children spending 8 hours per day (our national average) becoming a killing machine, will result in increased aggression and intent to do harm. Continue reading here
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Foundation Series Workshops
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May 12, 13 & 14, 2011 - Vancouver, BC
Foundation Series Comprehensive Presented by Zone'in Programs Inc.
Print registration form - or register online now!
All Foundation Series Workshops are now available for download on our new recorded webinar format, including the new Healthy Interactions Workshop for early intervention!
Download now!
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Virtual Child: The terrifying truth about what technology is doing to children
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 By Cris Rowan, pediatric occupational therapist.Virtual Child documents the impact technology has had on the developing child, and proposes tools and techniques to manage balance between activities children need for growth and success with technology use. Need more info? Visit www.zonein.ca/virtual-child BUY NOW ON Amazon.com
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Research
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Tech addiction symptoms rife among students CBC News onApril 6, 2011 11:06
Young adults around the world experience distress when they try to unplug from technology for even one day, a research project has found. Many students also reported mental and physical symptoms of distress and "employed the rhetoric of addiction, dependency and depression," when reporting their experiences of trying to go unplugged for a full day.
Are Antipsychotics Overprescribed? By Larry Culpepper, MD, MPH; Nassir Ghaemi, MD, MPH for Medscape on February 18, 2011
Antipsychotics are now the top-selling class of medications in the United States, with prescription sales of $14.6 billion in 2009. Many clinicians worry these agents are being overprescribed and used inappropriately.
Media Multitasking Behavior: Concurrent Television and Computer Usage By A. Brasel and J. Gips for Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking March 15, 2011
People switched between media at an extreme rate, averaging more than 4 switches per min and 120 switches over the 27.5-minute study exposure. Participants had little insight into their switching activity and recalled their switching behavior at an average of only 12 percent of their actual switching rate revealed in the objective data. Younger individuals switched more often than older individuals.
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Cris Rowan in the News
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CHBC Global News Cris speaking on the impact of technology at a workshop in Kelowna (at 9:38 min.).
BAM Radio - 5 Ways Technology May Adversely Alter Child Development Interview by Rae Pica with Cris Rowan, OT, BScOT, BScBi, SIPT, Warren Buckleitner, Ph.d. and Fran Simon on March 20, 2011
The ubiquity, application and use of technology in early childhood continue to expand. How is technology impacting child development? How much is too much? Who is best suited to define the proper balance for children? Guests offer research, expert assessment and advice.
Technology exposure in children CHBC News, Kelowna: Friday, March 4, 2011
Technology may help keep us connected, but it is creating a gap between children and healthy brain and body development. Author Cris Rowan came to Kelowna Thursday night to talk about her book Virtual Child, which details how the overexposure of technology in children is causing everything from obesity to high school drop outs.
Rowan releases new book By Christine Wood for Coast Reporter on April 1, 2011
In an effort to show parents the damaging effects of technology overuse on children, paediatric occupational therapist Cris Rowan has released a book titled Virtual Child: The Terrifying Truth About What Technology is Doing to Children.
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| News |
Schools Debate Cursive Handwriting Instruction Nationwide In Huffington Post "Huff Education" on March 30, 2011
Cursive handwriting instruction is disappearing. Students and teachers alike have swapped pencils for keyboards, baselines for blinking cursors, and have all but written off the traditional route of writing.
Pediatricians warn about Facebook depression By Lindsay Tanner for The Associated Press on March 28, 2011
Add "Facebook depression" to potential harms linked with social media, an influential doctors' group warns, referring to a condition it says may affect troubled teens who obsess over the online site.
Eighty percent of US children under five years old using the internet: new study By Relaxnews for Independent News on Wednesday, 16 March 2011
The results of a study by nonprofit organizations Joan Ganz Cooney Center and Sesame Workshop, released March 14, found that 80 percent of under fives in the US use the internet on a regular basis. The study was based on seven other previous studies conducted before 2010 and does not include internet usage through mediums such as tablet computers or smartphones.
Gulf Island nature centre for city kids hits fundraising halfway mark A Gulf Island land conservancy has raised more than half the funds needed to purchase land for a unique long-stay, nature-study centre on Galiano Island.
The centre, a project of the Galiano Conservancy Association, will allow city kids from the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island to connect with nature through multi-day learning programs.
Electromagnetic radiation from WiFi and cell phones is not safe! Wi Fi in schools violates Health Canada's Safety Code 6 because the very fast frequency interaction with the unprotected children is causing electromagnetic induction associated with nerve and muscle depolarization or a heat effect.
81 percent of kindergartners ready to learn - Report shows 32 percentage point jump in past decade By Liz Bowie for The Baltimore Sun on March 22, 2011
Nearly a decade after the state pushed to have full-day kindergarten and more high-quality early childhood programs, an annual survey shows that 81 percent of the state's kindergartners have the academic and social skills they will need to be successful in school.
F.D.A. Panel to Consider Warnings for Artificial Food Colorings By Gardiner Harris for the New York Times on March 29, 2011
The federal government is reassessing whether foods like Jell-O, Lucky Charms cereal and Minute Maid Lemonade should carry warnings that the bright artificial colorings in them worsen behavior problems like hyperactivity in some children.
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| Education |
TED Talks video - Evolution's gift of play, from bonobo apes to humans With never-before-seen video, primatologist Isabel Behncke Izquierdo shows how bonobo ape society learns from constantly playing -- solo, with friends, even as a prelude to sex. Indeed, play appears to be the bonobos' key to problem-solving and avoiding conflict. If it works for our close cousins, why not for us?
April 18-24th Go Screen Free Week Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood is now the official new home of Screen-Free Week, the annual celebration where millions of people turn off television and turn on the world around them. What would you and your family do with an extra 20, 30, or even 50 hours a week? Find out during CCFC's inaugural Screen-Free Week on April 18-24, 2011!
See what a Vancouver Island School is doing to support Go Screen Free Week by clicking here!
Video - Just a Coincidence? Documents just a few of the deaths related to psychiatric drugs.
Video - We Are Equals James Bond supports International Woman’s Day 2011.
Teacher Tools - Lessons, Activities and Information for Teaching Black History Black History Month began in February 1915, when historian Carter G. Woodson began the "Negro History Week" to honor the contributions of African Americans. Weblink below contains loads of resources to provide information, lessons, and activities for school-based settings.
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| Links |
Early Childhood News Online resource for parents and teachers of children ages 0-8 years.
New Documentary - Race to Nowhere Documents the intense stress students face from high stress testing.
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Balanced Technology Management Foundation Teams - Join Now!
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Child now use 7.5 hours per day of technology, at great cost to their health and academic performance. One third of children enter school developmentally delayed, and one in four children are obese. Child aggression is causing significant behaviour challenges in schools and homes, as evidenced by soaring rates of child behaviour diagnosis and use of psychotropic medications. Sleep deprived, isolated and illiterate, the ways in which we raise and educate new millennium children are threatening their very sustainability.
Keep reading here.
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Zone'in Programs Inc.
A System of Solutions |
Products
Foundation Series Workshops
Workshops are offered in the following formats:
Buy individual recorded webinars for $99 each
or the first 6 in the series for $499!
You will have two weeks to download your file. Once saved, you may watch at your leisure, alone or with your friends/colleagues. Stop and start the recording to suit your schedule - watch as many times as you like!
TrainingInstructor Training in Vancouver, May 11-15, 2011Instructor training for Foundation Series Workshops places pediatric occupational therapists on the cutting edge as experts in the field of technology's impact on child development. www.zoneintraining.com
ConsultationInnovative team-based approach to manage balance between activities children need to grow and succeed with technology use. www.zonein.ca/consulting |
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| Cris Rowan |
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Cris Rowan is a Pediatric Occupational Therapist, author, speaker and
champion of easing the job of learning for all children.
Click here for
complete bio.
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Contact Us
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Zone'in Programs Inc.
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6840 Seaview Road
Sechelt, BC V0N 3A4
1-888-896-6346
1-877-896-6346 (fax)
info@zonein.ca
www.zonein.ca
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