A couple of years ago we had a family with three children (ages 5, 11 and 13) as tenants. The kids were 'self-regulating home schoolers' (meaning all three of them were in front of screens all day every day and late into the night too, if they so chose). The youngest basically saw the whole world as a video game and talked about his upcoming birthday as "going to level 6". The father is a games developer, the mother a physicist. Both parents were convinced that this approach would give their children the opportunity to become 'smarter'.
I'm also intrigued about what you write on boredom. Some time ago I read (can't remember where) that boredom is a form of overwhelm. Totally agree with you. Kids need time and resources to develop their creativity and engage in the 'real world'.
When my grandson comes to visit and tells me he is bored, my first response is usually, "oh how interesting! What does boredom feel like? I've never had it, so I don't know..." Initially he gets pissed off, but then I take him for a little walk (for example) and we look for animal poo to see if we can identify the animal, and invent names for the droppings.
It would be an interesting follow-up, as I'm sure there are plenty of gamers and coders who live on computers and are very successful for it. It's just a trade-off and at the minute, I think its too heavily skewed away from real-life.
I used to make sure every minute was filled with podcasts, music, audiobooks etc. but over the last year I have given my brain much more time to be bored and my head feels much clearer. I saw a comedian once say that we didn't need mindfulness as children because instead we had to watch the condensation drip down the windows on a bus to pass the time. It really stuck.
I don't like the obsession with integrating tech and AI with kids, they're much better off outside looking at poo!
I fully agree. Those 'smart kids' mentioned above, from my (limited) observation, also had very unhealthy eating habits. The younger boy was hardly eating anything except sweets. The eldest boy kept looking at a screen while mindlessly stuffing food into his mouth whenever he felt hungry. Only the middle child (a girl) sat down at the table to eat (and enjoy healthy food) and engage in conversation. It really worried me. The parents laughed it off, gazing at their children in bedazzled admiration.
I think the understanding needs to start with the parents. (fortunately this is happening...)
Yeah, it's all on the parents. When an appreciation of delayed gratification goes out the window, it's a slippery slope to numerous minor addictions and chasing the dopamine dragon. Especially when kids haven't been told any different. Not blaming anyone, I just think the tech boom caught us all off guard.
I agree. Of course the poor parents are caught off guard too...
I'm wondering what the 'dopamine dragon' does to the brain. (I never thought about it in terms of dopamine addiction before reading your article!) Perhaps a pandemic of Parkinson's etc. in the making?
Thanks for restacking @An K.! Appreciate it
Very interesting article. Thank you!!
A couple of years ago we had a family with three children (ages 5, 11 and 13) as tenants. The kids were 'self-regulating home schoolers' (meaning all three of them were in front of screens all day every day and late into the night too, if they so chose). The youngest basically saw the whole world as a video game and talked about his upcoming birthday as "going to level 6". The father is a games developer, the mother a physicist. Both parents were convinced that this approach would give their children the opportunity to become 'smarter'.
I'm also intrigued about what you write on boredom. Some time ago I read (can't remember where) that boredom is a form of overwhelm. Totally agree with you. Kids need time and resources to develop their creativity and engage in the 'real world'.
When my grandson comes to visit and tells me he is bored, my first response is usually, "oh how interesting! What does boredom feel like? I've never had it, so I don't know..." Initially he gets pissed off, but then I take him for a little walk (for example) and we look for animal poo to see if we can identify the animal, and invent names for the droppings.
Thank you for your work!
It would be an interesting follow-up, as I'm sure there are plenty of gamers and coders who live on computers and are very successful for it. It's just a trade-off and at the minute, I think its too heavily skewed away from real-life.
I used to make sure every minute was filled with podcasts, music, audiobooks etc. but over the last year I have given my brain much more time to be bored and my head feels much clearer. I saw a comedian once say that we didn't need mindfulness as children because instead we had to watch the condensation drip down the windows on a bus to pass the time. It really stuck.
I don't like the obsession with integrating tech and AI with kids, they're much better off outside looking at poo!
I fully agree. Those 'smart kids' mentioned above, from my (limited) observation, also had very unhealthy eating habits. The younger boy was hardly eating anything except sweets. The eldest boy kept looking at a screen while mindlessly stuffing food into his mouth whenever he felt hungry. Only the middle child (a girl) sat down at the table to eat (and enjoy healthy food) and engage in conversation. It really worried me. The parents laughed it off, gazing at their children in bedazzled admiration.
I think the understanding needs to start with the parents. (fortunately this is happening...)
Yeah, it's all on the parents. When an appreciation of delayed gratification goes out the window, it's a slippery slope to numerous minor addictions and chasing the dopamine dragon. Especially when kids haven't been told any different. Not blaming anyone, I just think the tech boom caught us all off guard.
I agree. Of course the poor parents are caught off guard too...
I'm wondering what the 'dopamine dragon' does to the brain. (I never thought about it in terms of dopamine addiction before reading your article!) Perhaps a pandemic of Parkinson's etc. in the making?
It arguably contributes to a significant mental health crisis! It was my first post 😂Inspired by Jonathan Haidt and Anna Lembke really
https://themisfitmemo.substack.com/p/the-dopamine-industrial-complex
I kinda hate what gaming become