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Statement on Mass Shootings
 
Read how exposure to violent media content can be linked to rise in mass shootings
An unanswered question for the 21st century is to what extent does overexposure to violent media content, especially at a young age, have on subsequent acts of violence. With rise in video gaming, prolific research is documenting concomitant rise in violence and aggression. In 2009 the American Academy of Pediatrics profiled extensive studies showing media violence is causally linked to child aggression, desensitization to violence, nightmares, and fear of being harmed. Early exposure to violent media content has been shown to increase risk of violent behavior.
 

Sustainable Children - Are they a blast from the past?
 
Over the past 30 years, I've had the unique opportunity as a pediatric occupational therapist to witness profound changes in children. I used to see kids with physical disabilities like cerebral palsy or Down's Syndrome, but about 15 years ago the referrals changed to motor delays or sensory processing problems. Today my most frequent referrals are for severe behavior including tantrums and aggression, poor self-regulation, and attention deficit with difficulty learning. 90% of my referrals are for boys, many already diagnosed with adhd and/or autism, and many on stimulant or other mind altering medications. Concomitant with this shift in child behavior was the onset of a variety of new technologies, resulting in a child who is now largely sedentary, overstimulated, sleep deprived, socially isolated, and often neglected. Sometime ago I looked to the research to find out what is the relationship between screens and child development, and what I learned convinced me to make my life's work one of helping others learn how to balance technology with healthy activity. The ways in which we are raising and educating our children with technology are now longer sustainable. This article profiles my professional experience regarding the pervasive impact of technology on our children's lives, and proposes a variety of initiatives for parents, teachers and the community at large to work together to ensure sustainable futures for all children.



Infographics from Real Battle Ministries
 
Andrew Doan and the team at Real Battle Ministries have created these infographics for you to share.
TV Baby Sitter 
Screen Time and
Early Development 
Teenage Girls and
Excessive Social Media
                                 
Reset Your Child's Brain By Victoria L Dunkley
 
Reset Your Child's Brain: A Four-Week Plan to End Meltdowns, Raise Grades, and Boost Social Skills by Reversing the Effects of Electronic Screen-Time 

By Victoria L Dunkley

Read Chapter 1 - Electronic Screen Syndrome - An unrecogized Disorder here.

Order the book on Amazon here.
Cris's Kids
 
Katie Woodburn is 21 years old and is an accomplished equestrian and fashion designer. She grew up without a TV.
 
Check out her website Street and Saddle, her runway designs at the 2016 Vancouver Fashion Week, and recent article in  Coast Reporter!
 
Matt Taccogna is 35 years old, served as a Lieutenant for the Canadian Military, and has his MSc working in tidal energy development. Matt also grew up without TV and video games.
 
Check out his website MAVI Innovations and his UBC theses on tidal energy risk perception.

Foundation Series Workshop Schedule
 
November 14, 2016 - Windsor Ontario
Workshop for therapists on impact of technology on children for Digital Dependency Awareness: Free to Play conference sponsored by Problem Gambling Services, Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare.
Contact person: Shawn Rumble Shawn.Rumble@hdgh.org 519-257-5111 Ext 76984.

November 16, 17, 2016 - Edmonton Alberta
Keynote and workshop for child care workers on impact of technology on children for Health and Wellness Summit sponsored by Alberta Parenting for the Future.
Contact person: Kathryn Wey kathryn@apfa.ca 780-963-0549.

Research and News Review

Childhood Development

By Victoria L Dunckley June 5, 2016
Sunlight may be today's most overlooked (and cheapest) wellness essential.

YouTube video by Dean Julie, June 5, 2016
Trailer for book on how to turn kids into thriving successful adults out in the real world.

By Bryan Gray Jan 1, 2016
Young people who grow up without spending time outdoors will have an uninformed voice on the environment.

By SI Wire posted Aug 11,2015
Inactivity among children approached 20% in 2014, continuing a six-year upward trend.

Published Aug 3, 2015
The number of U.S. residents who say they skateboard has also declined dramatically in the past several years, from about 11 million to 6.2 million, according to various estimates.

By 2019, the global audience will grow to 180 million eSports enthusiasts and another 165 million occasional viewers.

Education

By Susan Payne Carter, Kyle Greenberg, Michael Walker SEII Working Paper #2016.02 May 2016
Findings from a study that prohibited computer devices in randomly selected classrooms of an introductory economics course at the United States Military Academy.

By Ann Steel April 24, 2016
Open letter for parents in support of questioning a school's plan of requiring laptops for all students.

By Richard Adams The Guardian May 11, 2016
Study finds use of computers by students in lectures and seminars has 'substantial negative effect' on performance.

By Richard Freed Huffington Post June 8, 2016
Richard describes three powerful forces that he believes will overcome the challenges of limiting the use of phones by kids in schools.

By Victoria Prooday May 16, 2016
Today's children come to school emotionally unavailable for learning and there are many factors in our modern lifestyle that contribute to this.
 
Social Media & Mobile Technology

By Fariss Samarrai, May 9, 2016
Pervasive use of smartphones may be making people susceptible to ADHD-like symptoms.

By Sampasa-Kanyinga H, Lewis RF 2015 Jul;18(7):380-5. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2015.0055.
The findings suggest that students with poor mental health may be greater users of Social networking sites (SNSs). These results indicate an opportunity to enhance the presence of health service providers on SNSs in order to provide support to youth.

By John Kriger
In the real world, people actually aren't concerned with your Facebook status, how many followers and friends you have, how many likes you get on a post or how many selfies you have taken.

By Allie Shah Star Tribune June 1, 2016
Eating disorders and body image issues are linked to social media use.

Technology Balance

By Melanie Hemp with Amy C. Eytchison May 5, 2016
Useful advice for all year round. 

YouTube video by Andrew Doan Published on June 2, 2016
Digital media changing brains is not rocket science... it's simply neuroscience.

Video Games & Pornography
 
By The Point, GameSpot July 5, 2015
Danny a gamer and developer has a problem with Destiny. He doesn't think it's a bad game, but it's development surfaces some troubling ethical questions about the role of game design in keeping players addicted.
  
By Andrew Doan May 20, 2016
1 minute public message to help educate kids and families on how video games can be addictive like drugs.

"Pornography is a public health crisis. Today I signed two bills that will bring its dangers to light. S.C.R. 9 calls for additional research and education so that more individuals and families are aware of the harmful effects of pornography," said Herbert.

Submitted to Your Brain on Porn website 

Technology Addictions & Psychotropic Meds
 
By  Johann Hari, Huffington Post January 20, 2016
Johann Hari shares his three and a half year, 30,000-mile journey for his new book, Chasing The Scream: The First And Last Days of the War on Drugs. What he learned on the road is that almost everything we have been told about addiction is wrong - and there is a very different story waiting for us, if only we are ready to hear it.

A growing number of parents and experts say addiction to screens is becoming a major problem for many young Americans, causing them to drop out of school, withdraw from their families and friends, and complain of deep anxieties in social settings.

By Kelly Patricia O'Meara, CCHR International June 6, 2016
The psycho-pharmaceutical industry is very interested in kids. So interested,  that it's now targeting children with the irresistible lure of tasty, candy-coated ADHD drugs and imaginary ADHD Superheroes.

By Dr Huu Kim Le for CGI Clinic
Evidence of withdrawal psychosis may provide evidence that excessive Internet use may be better explained as a behavioural addiction, rather that an impulse control disorder.

Paik, A., Oh, D. and Kim, D. Published online April 11, 2014
Similar to substance use disorder, patients with Internet addiction disorder (IAD) show excessive use, tolerance and withdrawal symptoms.

By Vladan Starcevic Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry, Jan 2013; v.47 n.1:p.16-19; issn:0004-8674
Discusses the increasing use of Internet across the world and notes controversy over the term 'Internet addiction'.

By Lemmens Jeroen S. and Hendriks Stefan J.F.. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. April 2016, 19(4): 270-276. doi:10.1089/cyber.2015.0415.
Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is the most recent term used to describe problematic or pathological involvement with computer or video games. This study examined whether this disorder is more likely to involve pathological involvement with online (i.e., Internet) games as opposed to offline games. 
 
Tech Radiation

Published by Canadians for Safe Technology (C4ST) April 18, 2016
References and extracts of over 60 scientific studies published in 2015 and up to April 2016 reporting potential harm at or below Safety Code 6 (2015), Health Canada's guidelines for safe human exposure to radio frequency/microwave radiation.

By Katie Singer

Website to to inform pregnant women about the potential risks of exposure to wireless radiation. 

Sleep
 
CBC News - June 16, 2016
Jenny Garden, pediatric occupational therapist from www.sleepdreams.com speaking on CBC TV about children not getting enough sleep.

By Amina Zafar CBC News June 16, 2016
Almost a third of Canadian school-aged kids are sleep-deprived while most are spending too much time staring at screens, suggests an annual report on the state of children's health.

Kas Roussy CBC News June 13, 2016
A panel of sleep experts has released new recommendations for the amount of sleep infants, kids and teenagers need each night.
 
Miscellaneous
 
By Peper, E., Booiman, A., Lin, I.M., & Harvey, R, February, 2016
An article which demonstrates how posture affects strength and emotional recall. The collapsed posture can be a major contributory factor in the development and maintenance of depression.

To promote mathematics among Aboriginal learners Math Catcher Outreach Program have created a series of stories with mathematical themes. These stories are based on the storytelling tradition of Aboriginal peoples and are available in in Blackfoot, Cree, English, Halq'eméylem, Heiltsuk, Hul'q'umi'num', Huu-ay-aht, Nisga'a, Sliammon, and Squamish language.

By Andrew Reiner April 4, 2016
With so much research showing that young men suffer beneath the gravity of conventional masculinity, men's studies is gaining validation as a field of its own, not just a subset of women's studies.

Vinyl cover in front of baby protects any smart phones. Baby enjoys her cartoons & videos!!

YouTube Video Telus Optik Local May 4, 2016
From an elite US Alpine Skiing Paralympian to the first amputee to ever summit Mt. McKinley, the accomplishments of Sarah Doherty defy convention. We sit down with Sarah at her home on the Sunshine Coast to hear her inspiring story. SideStix.com

WifiWifi in Schools Update

Wi-Fi In Schools and Libraries

By James Bessette May 19, 2016 Rhode Island - The Independent
Shelley McDonald - diagnosed with electromagnetic hypersensitivity syndrome about two years ago - she said regularly advocated against Wi-Fi installation in North Kingstown's schools, claiming exposure to Wi-Fi causes adverse health effects in humans.

By Joanne C. Simpson May 18, 2016 Maryland - The Towson Flyer
Answers include whether parents could be given "an 'opt-out' alternative to digital learning environments" for their children.

By Janis Hoffmann May 17, 2016 Canada - Parents for Safe Schools
Open letter to School Officials.
 
By Cindy Eckard May 16, 2016 Maryland - The Towson Flyer
Senate Bill 1150 would have required the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to work with the schools to make sure that our children are protected from the health risks associated with daily computer use: myopia, blurred vision, headaches, dry eyes, neck/shoulder pain, and the cumulative retinal damage caused by excessive screen time. 
 
By Screen-Free Mom May 11, 2016 Screen-Free Parenting
Bringing technology into schools and giving computers to low-income students is based on the age-old wisdom that more is better; faster is better.  When it comes to student learning, this just isn't so.

By Paul Joncich May 9, 2016 Las Vegas Now | CBS 8 News
(04:15 minute video) Microwave radiation from cell phones and WiFI -- it's something a lot of people aren't too worried about. But a growing contingent of doctors are worried about school children who are -- they say -- under a "constant barrage" of microwave radiation.
 
By Debra Fry May 3, 2016 Towards Better Health
On the 11th of June 2015, my 15 year old daughter, Jenny Fry was found by me, hanged in woods near our home in Oxfordshire, UK. She was utterly exhausted; she was battling the school for giving her detentions and refusing to acknowledge her difficulty around wifi, which had a profound effect on her ability to concentrate, write, explain things, and function in school.
 
2014 RF/EMF
Exceedingly high levels of RF/MW radiation in school classrooms produce hazardous environments for students and teachers, alike, impeding learning and undermining health generally. The easy solution? Send internet traffic through wires instead of through the air and our children's brains and bodies.

Cell Phone Towers and Children

By Deborah Donnelly May 11, 2016 Dublin, Ireland
(02:26 minute video) "Parents of children attending Monkstown Educate Together National School (METNS), Co. Dublin and local residents are challenging Vodafone plans to install a mobile phone mast on the roof of IADT College, located directly beside the primary school. They are also calling on the new
government to strengthen existing legislation, which is in place since 2012 - a relaxed version of
the previous guidelines put in place in 1996."
 
Please sign their petition here.

Medical / Scientific Advocacy

By Jack O'Dwyer May 23, 2016 O'Dwyer's
A concerned, capacity audience about 60 packed a conference room in New York to hear about and discuss the dangers of Wi-Fi and other radiation. Biggest victims are children, babies and fetuses.
 
By Jack O'Dwyer May 11, 2016 O'Dwyer's
Capt. Jerry Flynn this week called on the Public Health Agency of Canada to direct RCMP "to conduct a criminal investigation into Canada's radio frequency and extremely low frequency scientific community beginning with Health Canada's radiation protection bureau." 
 
May 5, 2016 U.K. - Team Around the Child
"The conference aims to give you the tools and knowledge to support and help autistic people
affected by sensory processing issues. It looks at how professionals can help ease these issues
and the huge impact they can have on the life of an autistic person."
 
Grassroots Environmental Education May 3, 2016
(53:33 minute video) "The nation's leading experts on wireless radiation and human health impacts participate in a live press conference prior to their panel at the Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting in Baltimore. Featuring Dr. Devra Davis, Dr. Hugh Taylor, Dr. Martha Herbert and Dr. Catherine Steiner-Adair."

News coverage of the conference:
 
By Amy Yensi May 3, 2016 CBS Baltimore
(02:03 minute video)
  
By Andrea K. McDaniels May 3, 2016 Baltimore Sun

Scientific Research
 
By Wyde, W., et al. May 26, 2016 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory | BioRxiv
 
Articles on this study:

May 25, 2016 Microwave News
 
By Josh Harkinson May 27, 2016 Mother Jones
 
By Lee, K.E., et al. May - June 2016 Public Health Reports, Volume 131
 
Article on this study:

By Jill Burke May 22, 2016 Alaska Dispatch
 
By Schüz, J., et al. April 2016 Bio Electro Magnetics
New exposure data from ARIMMORA confirmed that if the association is nevertheless causal, up to 2% of childhood leukemias in Europe, as previously estimated, may be attributable to ELF-MF.

Legal / Legislation

23 May 2016
Telecom companies are now bullying and deceiving customers into accepting more expensive, lower quality, unreliable digital phone connections that leave them vulnerable to hacking, scams, overcharges and serious health problems.
 
28 February 2016 Environmental Health Trust
Current cell phone and wireless guidelines were set by "industry" the FCC states in this clip from 2008 Congressional hearing.
 
2013 Corporate Interference
Video (1 hour, 18 minutes) Dr. Hardell: Scientific Misinterpretation and Doubt; 

Articles / Various

By Isabelle Z. May 11, 2016 Natural News
A look at the three factors that are believed to play the biggest role in driving up the autism statistics.

By Ben Farmer May 9, 2016 U.K. - The Telegraph | Education
Parents' immersion in smartphones has left some neglected children starting primary school unable to hold conversations, new research  warns.
 
04 May 2016 EMF Safety Network
(03:54 minute music video) A rewrite of the famous Bob Marley classic.
 
By Maggie Fox 03 May 2016 NBC News
"The report from Common Sense Media, which studies children's use of technology, is
based on a survey of more than 1,200 teenagers and parents."
 
By Renee Robinson April 11, 2016 Writing to Inspire Your Journey (Blog)
If you are a parent who feels like electronic devices have taken over and kidnapped your family, you are not alone.

Acknowledgement - The above links where first published in the NACST Newsletter May 2016.

Zone'in Products

Sedentary, neglected, isolated, and overstimulated, the new millennium child can no longer pay attention and learn. Zone'in Products are designed by an occupational therapist to enhance child development and learning, ensuring successful futures.

 

Zone'in - enhancing attention, learning and self-regulation.

Move'in - teaches children to print, the foundation for literacy.

Unplug'in - builds skill and confidence in activities other than technology.

Live'in - media literacy guide for home, school and community.

 

Product Preview  

 

Virtual Child - The terrifying truth about what technology is doing to children

Virtual Child

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.virtualchild.ca

BUY NOW ON Amazon.com 
amazon.com  


Cris-small
About the Author
Cris Rowan is a pediatric occupational therapist committed to enhancing child health and academic performance. Well known activist, speaker, sensory specialist and author, Cris is the "Go To" expert on child learning, development and technology overuse. Cris has provided over 200 workshops for health and education professionals, and is currently developing the Creating Sustainable Futures Program for a First Nations Community.
  
Training & Consultation
 
Training

Instructor 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.

Zone'in Training


Consultation
Innovative team-based approach to manage balance between activities children need to grow and succeed with technology use.

Cris Rowan is now offering private phone/Skype consultations. 

Care to Donate?
 
Zone'in Programs Inc. and Cris Rowan are seeking your support and assistance to ensure sustainable and productive futures for our children. Find out more about how you can help us!
Contact Us
 
6840 Seaview Rd. Sechelt BC V0N3A4 
Tel: 1-888-896-6346
Fax: 1-877-896-6346
© Zone'in Programs Inc. 2016