Technology & Teens
Image Credit: CREATISTA/ Shutterstock
Many of us received tech gifts for the holiday season and I thought this would be a great opportunity to share some of my go to tips and resources around this issue. Since 2005 I have had the pleasure to work for Eanes ISD. During my time there I learned quite a bit about technology due to Eanes ISD being very progressive in that area (all students have access to IPADS). A great resource that I would like to share with you is a new book by Dr. Daniel Siegel titled Brainstorm: The Power and the Purpose of the Teenage Brain, that discuses adolescents and their brain development. I have the full book review here, however, according to Siegel, the challenge with adolescents is more about brain development and less about hormones. Siegel suggests seven simple daily activities that are scientifically proven to promote health and continued integrative brain growth. Dubbed, the “healthy mind platter,” these are: Sleep time, physical time, focus time, connecting time, playtime, downtime and time-in (inner reflection).
In addition to finding resources, part of my job at Eanes ISD is to create useful parent education. I hope you will join us in learning more at Parent University, where one of the main topics is technology. Here’s the link to register for the event: www.eisdparentu.eventbrite.com. Furthermore, here is a list of quick tips that I like to give to parents regarding things that I do not recommend, or recommend monitoring, based on some of my clients’ experiences:
- Ask.fm: people can make anonymous comments about pictures
- Kick.com: anonymous text messaging
- Tumblr: tends to glamorize unhealthy behaviors, monitor closely under 15
- Instagram: can create fan pages, etc., monitor closely under 15
I always suggest having a parking lot for technology at night. For some of my younger clients I use the idea that we need to plug in our technology to charge the battery and unplug our brains to recharge at night (with sleep).
