Did you say you and your kids don’t do drugs? But – are you or your kids spending increasing amounts of time in front of electronic screens? Does it seem to be replacing other activities, like sleeping, socializing with others, chores, work of any kind, etc.?
Then You Might Be Seeing Electronics Behaving Like Drugs.
Victoria L. Dunckley, M.D., states that “‘screen time – particularly the interactive kind – acts like a stimulant, not unlike caffeine, amphetamines, or cocaine.’” The brain is stimulated in the same way as drugs when doing their “job.”
If kids (and/or you) spend less time engaged in activities like reading, playing, and exercising of some sort (it could even be dancing), we are seeing increasing rates of obesity, not all of which is related to eating junky foods and those that make us physiologically addicted, like grains and sugar.
Allowing kids to be entertained for hours using electronics makes our job as parents easier in many ways; however, do we want to indulge in this in exchange for poor health and addictive behaviors in ourselves and our kids?
Let’s make sure we take a long, hard look at our own electronic-related behavior. Remember, kids learn more from what their parents are doing than what they are saying! Role modeling is all-important.
Some tips to ensuring that screen time does not become an addiction or obsession are to limit screen time, make sure homework and chores are done before kids (or you) are allowed screen time, and allow kids or you to get bored (this could encourage you to be creative in other ways), and allow other types of activities, like board games (you pick).
If you can’t think of anything else to do, then you are losing your imagination! Time for a change.
For more information on holistic, healthy lifestyles, please visit my website, Health And Wellness