Kids with screens lead to adults without resilience, which lead to kids with screens.
A group of Singaporean researchers who studied a cohort of 168 children for more than a decade found that those exposed to screens in infancy (before two years of age) showed accelerated maturation of brain networks involved in visual processing and cognitive control. That faster specialization, the researchers suggest, was associated with slower decision-making in childhood, and in turn, higher anxiety symptoms in adolescence.
"During normal development, brain networks gradually become more specialised over time," according to the study's lead author Dr. Huang Pei. "However, in children with high screen exposure, the networks controlling vision and cognition specialised faster, before they had developed the efficient connections needed for complex thinking." […]
So, what is a new parent to do when confronted with a growing amount of screen time in adults, children, and infants, and multiple research results that suggest it's bad for the brain? Put down the smartphone and stow the iPad in favor of a good, old-fashioned book.
Children whose parents frequently read to them at age three showed a weakened link between screen time and altered brain development, meaning active engagement and enrichment brought by reading to children and asking them questions about the books shared with them helps foster better emotional management, language skills, and, in the case of the latest study, is likely to help their brains develop at a consistent, healthy rate across various cognitive areas.
Parents, read to your children. Physical books, not from a screen because it’s still a screen, and all it takes is one notification to distract from the experience. Physical books are a joy, and I’ll drown in them if I have to.
Erica Komisar in her book, Being There - Why Prioritizing Motherhood in the First Three Years Matters, shines more light on the subject, this time with mothers. Distracted stay-at-home mothers are no different than mothers who are out of the house and at work when it comes to caring for a child:
However, a stay-at-home mother who is bored by caring for her child; inattentive to her child’s needs; overwhelmed with caring for her child; distracted by her phone, tablet, or computer; or caught up in social or other family obligations—or the mother who is depressed and turns away from her child emotionally—is as absent to that child as a mother who spends long hours away from home.
The question for this generation and generations to come is, what is causing a mother to be bored with her child? What is causing her to be inattentive or overwhelmed? There is no doubt that a huge contributing factor is the constant dopamine that screens provide, making caring for a little one dull and boring. And the best way to keep them quiet? A screen.
The vicious cycle continues.
Another excerpt from her book:
It is rare for me to walk down the are not in fact street or go for a walk in the park and to see a mother or caregiver truly engaged emotionally present.with a baby. Instead, I see mothers and caregivers preoccupied with their cell phones. Technology has changed our lives forever, in some ways for the good and in some ways not. The desire to be stimulated every moment and to flee from the boring moments of being with our babies is only exacerbated by the seduction of our constantly lit-up cell phones. One might say (and I do) that we did better before the ubiquitous cell phone in terms of our focus on our children. As a culture we have become inured to the impact of these interruptions and distractions on our feelings, our psyches, and our sense of self. My husband and I recently went to a restaurant and had dinner near a couple who looked at their cell phones, not each other, for the entire dinner. Imagine what it is like for your child when you constantly pick up your phone, text, or check your emails to see if there is something or someone more important and more interesting than he is. It is your ability to find your child interesting that makes your child feel interesting and develops his self-esteem; of course, constantly checking your phone will make your child feel less interesting and less important to you.
A group of Singaporean researchers who studied a cohort of 168 children for more than a decade found that those exposed to screens in infancy (before two years of age) showed accelerated maturation of brain networks involved in visual processing and cognitive control. That faster specialization, the researchers suggest, was associated with slower decision-making in childhood, and in turn, higher anxiety symptoms in adolescence.
"During normal development, brain networks gradually become more specialised over time," according to the study's lead author Dr. Huang Pei. "However, in children with high screen exposure, the networks controlling vision and cognition specialised faster, before they had developed the efficient connections needed for complex thinking." […]
So, what is a new parent to do when confronted with a growing amount of screen time in adults, children, and infants, and multiple research results that suggest it's bad for the brain? Put down the smartphone and stow the iPad in favor of a good, old-fashioned book.
Children whose parents frequently read to them at age three showed a weakened link between screen time and altered brain development, meaning active engagement and enrichment brought by reading to children and asking them questions about the books shared with them helps foster better emotional management, language skills, and, in the case of the latest study, is likely to help their brains develop at a consistent, healthy rate across various cognitive areas.
Parents, read to your children. Physical books, not from a screen because it’s still a screen, and all it takes is one notification to distract from the experience. Physical books are a joy, and I’ll drown in them if I have to.
Erica Komisar in her book, Being There - Why Prioritizing Motherhood in the First Three Years Matters, shines more light on the subject, this time with mothers. Distracted stay-at-home mothers are no different than mothers who are out of the house and at work when it comes to caring for a child:
However, a stay-at-home mother who is bored by caring for her child; inattentive to her child’s needs; overwhelmed with caring for her child; distracted by her phone, tablet, or computer; or caught up in social or other family obligations—or the mother who is depressed and turns away from her child emotionally—is as absent to that child as a mother who spends long hours away from home.
The question for this generation and generations to come is, what is causing a mother to be bored with her child? What is causing her to be inattentive or overwhelmed? There is no doubt that a huge contributing factor is the constant dopamine that screens provide, making caring for a little one dull and boring. And the best way to keep them quiet? A screen.
The vicious cycle continues.
Another excerpt from her book:
It is rare for me to walk down the are not in fact street or go for a walk in the park and to see a mother or caregiver truly engaged emotionally present.with a baby. Instead, I see mothers and caregivers preoccupied with their cell phones. Technology has changed our lives forever, in some ways for the good and in some ways not. The desire to be stimulated every moment and to flee from the boring moments of being with our babies is only exacerbated by the seduction of our constantly lit-up cell phones. One might say (and I do) that we did better before the ubiquitous cell phone in terms of our focus on our children. As a culture we have become inured to the impact of these interruptions and distractions on our feelings, our psyches, and our sense of self. My husband and I recently went to a restaurant and had dinner near a couple who looked at their cell phones, not each other, for the entire dinner. Imagine what it is like for your child when you constantly pick up your phone, text, or check your emails to see if there is something or someone more important and more interesting than he is. It is your ability to find your child interesting that makes your child feel interesting and develops his self-esteem; of course, constantly checking your phone will make your child feel less interesting and less important to you.
Life update.
My apologies to my consistent readers out there, as I have been inconsistent at certain times, one of them being right now. Life throws curveballs at you when you least expect it, and when we had our daughter back in January, it was a curveball we didn’t expect.
Our daughter was born with many health issues, including a cleft lip, a cleft in her epiglottis causing aspiration issues, visual impairment, and brain tissue anomalies along with a weakened pituitary gland, meaning she doesn’t produce enough growth hormone. You would think with all these conditions she would be like a vegetable, but thankfully with God’s grace she is still very active and a cute little button that brings joy into our lives. She’s doing much better.
We’ve been in and out of the hospital several times over the course of the past year, with countless doctor visits and home nurse visits. It takes a toll on a person to deal with these issues, and it also brings perspective into one’s life and a sense of higher purpose. Thankfully my daughter is doing well, and things are looking optimistic.
That being said, I will continue to talk about Apple, cars, and technology, but also throwing in other topics that I hope benefits others that have a serious focus on faith and family life.
I understand this might not be your cup of tea, but it’s something that really means a lot to me, and part of me fulfilling a higher purpose. If anything, you can be more assured that the advice I provide will be genuine since at the end of the day, I will have to answer to God and I have to make sure I was not deceiving anyone regardless of their faith.
Stay tuned for even more value continuing onwards, beyond just tech insights.
My apologies to my consistent readers out there, as I have been inconsistent at certain times, one of them being right now. Life throws curveballs at you when you least expect it, and when we had our daughter back in January, it was a curveball we didn’t expect.
Our daughter was born with many health issues, including a cleft lip, a cleft in her epiglottis causing aspiration issues, visual impairment, and brain tissue anomalies along with a weakened pituitary gland, meaning she doesn’t produce enough growth hormone. You would think with all these conditions she would be like a vegetable, but thankfully with God’s grace she is still very active and a cute little button that brings joy into our lives. She’s doing much better.
We’ve been in and out of the hospital several times over the course of the past year, with countless doctor visits and home nurse visits. It takes a toll on a person to deal with these issues, and it also brings perspective into one’s life and a sense of higher purpose. Thankfully my daughter is doing well, and things are looking optimistic.
That being said, I will continue to talk about Apple, cars, and technology, but also throwing in other topics that I hope benefits others that have a serious focus on faith and family life.
I understand this might not be your cup of tea, but it’s something that really means a lot to me, and part of me fulfilling a higher purpose. If anything, you can be more assured that the advice I provide will be genuine since at the end of the day, I will have to answer to God and I have to make sure I was not deceiving anyone regardless of their faith.
Stay tuned for even more value continuing onwards, beyond just tech insights.
How to check the battery life of all your family’s Apple devices.
Find My is a great tool not only for finding out the location of your loved ones, devices, and items, but also a great way to make sure everyone in your family has topped off their iPhone before they head out of the house.
Indispensable for family road trips or in any case where people are going to split up. 📓
Find My is a great tool not only for finding out the location of your loved ones, devices, and items, but also a great way to make sure everyone in your family has topped off their iPhone before they head out of the house.
Indispensable for family road trips or in any case where people are going to split up.
Your iPhone by default tells you the exact battery life of your AirPods and Apple Watch, but with Find My, you can see the battery life of all your family’s iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, and Apple Watches. It is an approximation because you get a battery bar without a percentage, but it is pretty accurate if you’re a pro at estimating the battery bar health.
In order to check battery percentages, you would have to add them via Family Sharing.
Go to Settings > Tap on your name > Family > Add family member (logo on top right).
Once you add family members, make sure Location Sharing is turned ON. Now all family members can see everyone’s device location and battery percentage.
To see the battery percentages, go to Find My > Devices > and pick any device (that’s not AirPods) to see its battery life.
A few things to know when trying to visualize battery percentages:
The other devices have to be turned ON and have to be unlocked initially to gather the battery status. After that you can monitor battery life until the device dies or is turned OFF, which requires the process to be repeated.
It doesn’t tell you the battery life of other people’s AirPods probably because it does not have Wi-Fi or maybe because it doesn’t have an advanced processor like the other devices.
You also get charging status, so if a device is charging, you will know.
This will work on even your old Intel MacBooks (works with my 2013 MacBook Pro!).
I cross-referenced the battery indicator with the actual percentages on the devices. Very accurate.