A must read for any parent considering allowing their children to game or need more motivation to reduce or eliminate time on video games. The multi-billion dollar video game industry is in the business of creating fun and enticing games that can be addictive. As addicted gamers feast on digital indulgences, real life is neglected and their reality crumbles around them.
Hooked on Games is written by Brooke Strickland and Andrew Doan, MD, PhD, a physician with a research background in neuroscience, who battled his own addictions with video games. Dr. Doan was an addicted gamer, who at his peak, invested over 20,000 hours of playing games over a period of nine years. Dr. Doan's reckless compulsion to play games transformed him into a monster that almost destroyed his family, marriage, and career. He shares his expertise to educate others on the dangers of video game addiction and to provide hope for video game addicts and their families. Dr. Doan shares steps for gaming addicts to achieve recovery and steps for families and loved ones to intervene. Without attention to this quickest growing addiction, our society will suffer from the creation of Generation Vidiot, millions of people devoid of innovation and skills to live in the physical world.
Dr. Andrew Doan is a recognized expert in digital media addictions, speaks around the world, and has trained over 1000 mental health providers on this topic. With a Ph.D. degree in neuroscience and an M.D. degree, his background in molecular neuroscience and the vision system adds in-depth knowledge into the areas of gaming and digital media addictions. Order here now!
New October 2022! From a world-renowned expert on creative play and the impact of commercial marketing on children, a timely investigation into how big tech is hijacking childhood—and what we can do about it
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, digital technologies had become deeply embedded in children’s lives, despite a growing body of research detailing the harms of excessive immersion in the unregulated, powerfully seductive, profit-driven world of the “kid-tech” industry.
In Who’s Raising the Kids? Linn—one of the world’s leading experts on the impact of Big Tech and big business on children—explores the roots and consequences of this monumental shift toward a digitized, commercialized childhood, focusing on kids’ values, relationships, and learning. From birth, kids have become lucrative fodder for a range of tech, media, and toy companies, from producers of exploitative games and social media platforms to “educational” technology and branded school curricula of dubious efficacy.
Noting that many Silicon Valley elites wouldn’t dream of exposing their young kids to the very technologies they’ve unleashed on other people’s children, Who’s Raising the Kids? is unique—a highly readable social critique and guide to protecting kids from exploitation by the tech, toy, and entertainment industries. Linn provides a deep and eye-opening dive into exactly how new technologies enable huge conglomerates to transform young children into lifelong consumers by infiltrating their lives and influencing their values, relationships and learning. She persuasively argues that our digitized-commercialized culture is damaging for kids and families as well as society at large, and maps out what we must do to change course.
Written with humor and compassion, the book concludes with two hopeful chapters—“Resistance Parenting” and “Making a Difference for Everybody’s Kids”—that chart a path for protecting kids from targeting by the tech, toy, and entertainment industries that treat them as lucrative bundles of data and as mini-consumers ripe for exploitation rather than as the children they need to be.
We’ve all seen them: kids hypnotically staring at glowing screens in restaurants, in playgrounds and in friends' houses―and the numbers are growing. Like a virtual scourge, the illuminated glowing faces―the Glow Kids―are multiplying. But at what cost? Is this just a harmless indulgence or fad like some sort of digital hula-hoop? Some say that glowing screens might even be good for kids―a form of interactive educational tool.
Don’t believe it.
In Glow Kids, Dr. Nicholas Kardaras will examine how technology―more specifically, age-inappropriate screen tech, with all of its glowing ubiquity―has profoundly affected the brains of an entire generation. Brain imaging research is showing that stimulating glowing screens are as dopaminergic (dopamine activating) to the brain’s pleasure center as sex. And a growing mountain of clinical research correlates screen tech with disorders like ADHD, addiction, anxiety, depression, increased aggression, and even psychosis. Most shocking of all, recent brain imaging studies conclusively show that excessive screen exposure can neurologically damage a young person’s developing brain in the same way that cocaine addiction can.
Kardaras will dive into the sociological, psychological, cultural, and economic factors involved in the global tech epidemic with one major goal: to explore the effect all of our wonderful shiny new technology is having on kids. Glow Kids also includes an opt-out letter and a "quiz" for parents in the back of the book. Purchase this book via Amazon here.
In preparation of your child accessing the internet, this is essential reading for parents to prepare for the very real risks children face online. The Glass Between Us is a value-based guide for screen-driven challenges, filled with research, stories, interviews, practical tips, conversation starters and evidence-driven solutions to tackle the complexities of our teens’ digital lives:
This book presents a new framework that empowers teens to become digital pioneers charting new courses that lead them away from the exploitive side of the web and closer to the vision and purpose they desire for their lives. You will learn to inspire teens to place their core values at the forefront of their digital interactions, so choices online resemble who they are, rather than how they are told to behave. Order here now!
Prevent or reset problems! Increasing numbers of parents grapple with children who are acting out without obvious reason. Revved up and irritable, many of these children are diagnosed with ADHD, bipolar illness, autism, or other disorders but don’t respond well to treatment. They are then medicated, often with poor results and unwanted side effects. Based on emerging scientific research and extensive clinical experience, integrative child psychiatrist Dr. Victoria Dunckley has pioneered a four-week program to treat the frequent underlying cause, Electronic Screen Syndrome (ESS).
Dr. Dunckley has found that everyday use of interactive screen devices — such as computers, video games, smartphones, and tablets — can easily overstimulate a child’s nervous system, triggering a variety of stubborn symptoms. In contrast, she’s discovered that a strict electronic fast single-handedly improves mood, focus, sleep, and behavior, regardless of the child’s diagnosis.
Offered now in this book, this simple intervention can produce a life-changing shift in brain function — all without cost or medication. Dr. Dunckley provides hope for parents who feel that their child has been misdiagnosed or inappropriately medicated, by presenting an alternative explanation for their child’s difficulties and a concrete plan for treating them. Order here!
Durability guru and science writer Jenifer Joy Madden reveals how to achieve lasting body, mind, and digital wellness. Read this book to: Sharpen your mind Improve your concentration Reduce stress and anxiety Exercise without trying Eat and sleep better Protect your vision and hearing Live in harmony with your technology ✓ Then help your family do the same with tips for parents at the end of each chapter. Uplifting stories and research-based lessons are spiced with the wisdom of world-renowned durable humans including Buddhist philosopher Thich Nhat Hanh, Seven Habits author Stephen Covey, and humane tech design pioneer Tristan Harris.
"An all-too-relevant and eminently practical book that offers health strategies in a gadget-packed world.” – Kirkus Reviews. What readers say about How to be a Durable Human: ♥
"Very positive, very helpful, very accessible information for everyone." ♥
"I love the idea of really getting back to our authentic selves and stepping out in a life that shines with purpose." ♥
"I was caught up, engaged, and motivated to take your advice and suggestions and put them into practice." Don’t settle for resilient. Be DURABLE.Your lifespan will thank you.
This is a heartfelt and beautifully told tale of a regular little girl doing somethimg seemingly innocent online with a mother who is well aware of the risks of internet predators, addiction, and mental health issues. However it only takes one chat during a time at a friends's house that turn into many over the period of two years which result in devastating consequences for herself and her parents.
The author, Jen Hoey does a great job of sharing this cautionary tale AND including tips to prevent it from happening to others.
This story highlights that even despite parents' vigilance, bad things can still happen to our precious children. Jen handled her daughter's situation with care, sensitivity and wisdom. A wonderful inclusion for support networks at the end. This is a 'must read' for all parents interested in protecting their little ones since it literally can happen to everyone.
Purchase this short story, paperback book via Amazon here.
Jen lives in Sydney, Australia and has been an avid supporter of children’s mental health and vocal advocate of digital wellness since 2019. Jen is in the process of completing a Degree in Cyber Security and Behaviour and has completed a Certificate in Counselling and Psychology, as well as other certificates in online safety. As well as being founder of “Not My Kid”, she administers a parent support Facebook group, and offers Parent Cyber Safety consultations.
As children are exposed to social media at younger and younger ages, seeing school friends and peers online all the time, parents are challenged with how to explain the risks and unintended, but very real, mental health and self esteem challenges caused by time spent on social media. .The story of Alice provides a whimsical way to teach children the importance of healthy in-real-life experiences without relying on social media for validation. It's important to note that delaying access to smart phones and social media well into high school or at least #waituntil8th is proven to have great preventative and protective benefits. Children and teens are unable to regulate their own social media time due to the addictive app designs and lack of self-regulation skills, this book in no way is meant to encourage social media use in young children.
Want a comfortable way to talk with your kids about pornography? This newly revised edition of the original bestseller from Defend Young Minds makes that daunting discussion easy! Good Pictures Bad Pictures is a read-aloud story about a mom and dad who explain what pornography is, why it’s dangerous, and how to reject it.
Featuring easy-to-understand science and simple analogies, this internationally-acclaimed book engages young kids to porn-proof their own brains.
With Good Pictures Bad Pictures, your child will never be caught off guard by disturbing videos or peer pressure! The 5-point CAN DO Plan™ teaches kids exactly what to do to protect their young minds when they see pornography.
“I am so grateful for this book! It was a great way to talk to my children about pornography without that awkward, uncomfortable feeling.” Lisa
Parents don’t need to wonder what to say--simply read Good Pictures Bad Pictures to your child and move forward with confidence! You can even use this book before beginning the sex talks!. Purchase this book via Amazon here.
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