New Tools That Help Families Manage Time
Guest Blog by Jenifer Joy Madden. If digital gadgets and games are being designed to attract and hold kids’ attention, American pediatricians are pushing back with their own design. “The goal is to give parents, and everybody really, a visual of how a child’s day maps out and we can really understand what affects the balance […]
Safe Schools Policy – Best Practice Standards for Screens and Radiation
The Safe Schools Policy – Best Practice Standards for Screens and Radiation was emailed to Canada’s Prime Minister and Canadian provincial Ministers of Health and Education, as well as Health Canada and The Council of Education Ministers, Canada on March 26, 2017 for comment and consideration (click here to see replies). Safe Schools Policy – Best […]
Online or Outside? Redefining child safety and risk.
During an assessment, a grade one child stated she “sneaks” her tablet to bed at night to talk with her “new friends”. When asked who these friends were, she responded “I’m not sure, but they say nice things to me and ask me lots of questions”. A kindergartener who could speak of nothing other […]
Screen Overuse: Why families do it, and how they can stop.
It was about 20 years ago when I started identifying children who overused screens. I was working in schools as a pediatric occupational therapist at the inception of the adhd craze, and was curious enough to ask my adhd students “do you game”? It made sense to me that a body designed to […]
Does playing video games enhance fine motor skills in children? “No” says a pediatric occupational therapist
As a child development specialist, a frequent question asked by parents, educators, and therapists is “Do video games improve fine motor skills”? Concerns continue regarding long durations children are spending using various technologies, and creating the need to justify high usage rates in homes, schools, and clinical settings is on the rise. Because video […]