Children with Addictions – Let’s pull our heads out of the sand and do something!

In the absence of primary attachment formation with the parent, children are neglected, and as a default, form unhealthy attachment to screens. Schools not only allow but promote screen addiction in students every day by replacing teachers with a device. Dubbed “individualized learning”, numerous studies now show screen centric schools are failing students across the board…failing to become literate, failing to achieve life skills, failing to learn motor and social skills, failing in relationships, failing to attain basic job skills and ultimately, failing to succeed. At all levels of government, the job of protecting children by regulating and legislating the technology industry has effectively been silenced by the “bells and whistles” lure of AI.

Children are our future, but there is no future in screen-based technology, only devastation and death. The ‘Tech Train’ is moving forward at a speed so fast that we haven’t even noticed our children are falling off. We need to slow the tech train down, bring it back to the station, and put a stop to all present and future use of screen devices by children until we have laws in place to protect them. Pedophiles are organized and rampant on all social media platforms, video games, and porn, which many children consume on a daily basis. Children are being groomed, manipulated for sexual imagery and even trafficked by horrible people online, often ending in suicide, yet children go online regularly…unsupervised, unregulated, and with the full knowledge of the adults who are supposed to be caring for them. This atrocious behaviour by parents and teachers is nothing short of child trauma, abuse and neglect, inflicted knowingly and on a wide scale. YouTube, Meta, Instagram, Facebook, etc. are all removing fact checking as well as reducing safeguards for harmful content. As bullying, antiracial and hate speech escalates, our children are evermore at risk for harm. Openly allowing harm to children through unrestricted access to online content is an emergency situation, of epic proportion. Why are we allowing children, in homes, schools and community settings including libraries, restaurants, recreation, centers, etc., access to harmful devices that are causing permanent injury, addiction and eventual death? Why??

So here we are. We’ve now come to fully realize screen addiction and understand the extent that screens have taken over our lives, and we now know that something has to change, immediately, to save our children. Parents… put down the device and pick up your children and go outside and play. You are the most important person in their lives and they love you immensely and want your undivided attention and love. You’ve trained them to be addicted to the screen, and now your job is to teach them non-screen activities and hobbies. This isn’t going to be easy, because the older the child, the less confidence and competence they have in any skill other than screens, but you can do this! You can start with yourself. Take a deep breath and go inside yourself and find your soul, your life force, what makes you you. Relax in this peaceful sanctuary, devoid of lights, noise, and distractions. Slow down, become at ease with yourself, learn to saunter when you walk, and saviour the peace.

Teachers…you need to learn how to teach, without screens. You are the second most important person in your students lives and learning improves with teacher-student relationship; embrace this fact. Remove all online screen devices from your school including cell phones, laptops and tablets. Create a computer lab with ethernet plug-in laptops that children can access online subject matter for no more than 30 minutes per day to research assignments, while you, the teacher, sit behind your computer which shows you what every student in that room is doing. Put a landline phone in each classroom for emergencies; teach your students how to use it. Order a set of encyclopaedias and books for each subject (with all the money that you were saving from not buying technology). Cancel all technology industry contracts citing pervasive harm to students; threaten lawsuits if needed. Do written (printing or cursive) output speed tests for whole school to determine the extent of literacy delays. It’s simple…have students copy write (using actual paper) for two minutes from a book that matches their reading skill, count the letters and divide by two. Compare speeds to this printing chart produced by Stephen Graham who is an educator and prolific researcher in written output. If they can’t write, they will never learn to read and will fail in all subjects, including math. Do this now! You will be shocked! Read this Help Sheet: Resisting AI Mania in Schools by Anne Lutz Fernandez which is packed with research supporting what you need to do.