Modern Childhood

When you work with kids, you can’t help but reflect on the state of childhood, parenting, society and their intersection.

This week’s musing started with an article that I read talking about parents concerned about their children (i.e., boys) addiction to a video game called “Fortnite.” I had never heard of the game, but as it happened, I had a flow of teen age boys this week talking about their “gaming” habits who were able to schooling me about Fortnite and their daily reality..

Child number one, 14 year old Noah, told me how he was “raging” (kids are now using the term regularly as a verb fairly) when things were not going his way while playing a game. As it was told to me, he was losing a game and throwing his controller at the wall while cursing. His parents told me that they made some half-hearted attempts to tone down the “raging” but it wasn’t having much of an impact.

Noah explained his anger to me, admitting that he had screamed at his father to “F-Off” (said more explicitly than than that).

Listening to each side of the story I frequently feel like I am in the position of being the “People’s Court Judge” passing down a verdict.

With Noah I hadn’t declared him “guilty” until he got to the part of the part of the story where he told his father to “F-Off.”

The second child, Logan, age 15, was trying to tell me he wasn’t really addicted to playing video games.

“On average, how many hours do you play on video games each day,” I asked Logan.

“Maybe four or five,” Logan responded.

I got out my calculator. “Let’s see. So you told me you started playing when you were seven,” I said to him. “So, that’s 365 days a year multiplied by five hours a day over an eight year period. That comes to 14,600 hours of video games that you’ve played to date give or take a few hundred.”

Logan looked a bit stunned with that number. Of course, he had tried to reduce the number of hours played on games such as League of Legends by using a service known as unranked smurfs. These companies play your account for you, so you can reduce the amount of time you spend playing on the “boring” parts of the game. You might be interested in creating league of legends smurf accounts first before you get unranked smurfs to play for you. By creating this account for yourself you get to have way more fun with the game. But it’s up to you, if you don’t have the time to play then get someone else to play it for you. However, if you want to experience the game in it’s full glory then get a smurfs account for yourself. But be prepared for lack of sleep, if you’re wanting to play the game yourself and experience every part of it, you could use guide websites like Warcraft Tavern to help you through some of the harder obstacles within the game.

I continued. “If you factor in sleep, (we played with some more numbers and multiplied 8 hours of sleep over eight year period), you probably have played video games for about one fourth of your waking life from the age of five.”

While I am not a scientist and have not conducted a formal or valid research study, I can say with pretty good certainty that there isn’t one boy over the age of 10 who isn’t logging in significant hours on their screens.

When you include playing on the iPad, which most kids are starting to do around the age of four (or younger), then the numbers change dramatically.

Parents all the time that they are “limiting their child’s screen time.” I know. I know.

One last point. Of the 14,600 or so hours spent playing Fortnite, Minecraft, World of Warcraft, or whatever, that means they are not socializing or playing outside (quaint activities that children used to do). However, parents must also realize their kids aren’t just glued to their screen playing on their own, they could also be socializing thanks to the online multiplayer aspect of many of these popular games such as these Epic Minecraft Servers that allow Minecraft users to play online together, children may not be going outside to play with their friends, but they will be playing with their friends on their favorite gaming platform.

Takeaway Point

Take out your calculator and play with some numbers.

Like Logan, you will probably be stunned.

(Next week, we will build on this topic.)

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Not in the South Jersey area? For a free 15 Minute Consultation, contact Dr. Selznick: email – contact@shutdownlearner.com.

To receive free newsletter and updates, go to: www.shutdownlearner.com.

Last week we talked about a young girl, Olivia, an 8 year old who was extraordinarily demanding in her style, with the image of her mom as a nervous servant desperately trying to please her. (see, “Off With Their Heads”).

We talked about two groups of kids.  The first, Group A, is flexible by temperament and generally able to handle “curveballs” or the word “no,” whereas Group B is the opposite – rigid, inflexible and difficult.   “No” is a particular anathema to this group,” and a word that is not easily tolerated.

I know there are lots of programs or therapeutic modalities claiming to tame these challenging kids in short order, but I’m not so sure.

The fact of the matter is that difficult is difficult.

Children with Challenging Behavior -“Opposite Children”

Apropos of that, there was a young boy, Martin, I observed many years ago in preschool.  A challenging child on many levels, I remember that Martin was what I called an “opposite child.”  That is, no matter what the group, teacher or family wanted to do, Martin tried  to do the opposite.

You know the concept of “going with the grain.”  Not Martin.  He was the definition of going against the grain.  Martin was a grain rubber.

A lot of work took place after the observation and assessment of him to help the parents manage his challenging behaviors and to set appropriate limits, but it wasn’t easy.  Martin continually pushed parental buttons to try and have his demands met.

I lost touch with Martin and his family, but just last week Martin’s dad came in to say hello and update me.  Now, a 25 year old medical student, Martin has come a long way.

But in the story the dad told of the adult Martin, there were signs of the four year old “opposite child” self.  Periodically challenging his teachers when he felt they were wrong about something and coming across to his peers like he was superior to them, Martin continued to be someone who wasn’t taking the easy route.

No one thought of him as a flexible person who went with the grain.

How to deal with a difficult child

If you have relatively young children, what do you do if you have an Olivia (“Off with their heads!”) or an opposite child like Martin?

My best piece of advice is that you watch your reactions.  Try to not add fuel to the fire, but don’t feel you need to cater to every whim.

For example, if your Olivia is making her demands (“I want to go to the store tonight for markers.”), don’t take the bait.  Pull back a little.  Let her make her demands, but be careful about not being a “Gumby parent” with no backbone.  (“Sorry, we are not running to the Target tonight to get the markers you wanted.”)

With opposite children be clear in your explanations, but again, watch being held hostage by their demands.

The children who are “opposite” or demanding in temperamental style are very difficult to please and trying to do so is often a losing battle.

Takeaway Point

Steel your nerve as a parent.  Challenging kids are an ongoing challenge.  You can change the odds though.  Practice being firm, clear and matter-of-fact in your style and you will feel less depleted as a parent and more in charge.

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Not in the South Jersey area? For a free 15 Minute Consultation, contact Dr. Selznick: email – contact@shutdownlearner.com.

To receive free newsletter and updates, go to: www.shutdownlearner.com.

Nine year old Lucas hates his homework.  On a fairly regular basis he meltdowns over any assignment that might take more than about 10 minutes to complete.  Whining constantly, rolling around on the floor, crying and sobbing are part of the nightly rituals accompanying homework. I had this problem with my older son when he was studying at university, and we used sites like buy thesis paper online, to help write his essays for him. So, I tried the same approach for Lucas. We’ve used some great homework helping websites and tutors such as https://cheapwritingservice.com/ to try and make homework less painful for Lucas.

Lucas’ teacher, Mrs. Hanover, believes homework is pretty important for kids and feels that fourth graders need to learn to stop being babies and begin taking responsibility for themselves.  She has clearly told that to the parents during back-to-school night and is pretty diligent assigning homework daily.

A professional with over 15 years’ experience, Mrs. Hanover is careful to make sure that the homework is within a window of time that would not take more than 30-45 minutes to complete (minus the crying and rolling around on the floor).  For the kids with identified  learning problems who are either classified or have 504 plans, she told the parents they could reduce the total amount assigned as long as the child was giving good effort.

Some kids do struggle with some subjects so if they need to take longer then normal then that’s fine. There’s even websites online that you could use to help you kid. For example, if they struggled with economics they could use a site that might offer economics homework help.

All that mattered to Mrs. Hanover was good faith effort, an honest 30 minutes or so.  She didn’t feel it was too much to ask.

Needless to lay Lucas’ parents are becoming extremely concerned with the thrill ride of nightly homework reactivity.  The mom finds herself waking in the middle of the night having borderline anxiety attacks, going on the school’s webpage to see what Lucas’ grades (kind of like checking the stock market) and how much homework he is missing.

Does homework help kids with learning?  Depending what research you read and what theorist you are going to follow homework falls somewhere on the continuum of totally useless to valuable.

Intuitively, though, as parents we know there is a hidden agenda to homework and we want our kids to buy in – to get the work done and hand it in on time.  We know that there are values in the doing regardless of the content of the homework.

What are some of the hidden agendas or values of homework?

• Meeting a deadline
• Facing your responsibilities
• Planning
• Having a goal (even a small one) and obtaining it
• Taking care of your stuff
• Organizing yourself
• Learning to become independent
• Growing up

There are many more like these, but you get the idea.

We naturally worry (well, at least the moms worry) when kids are not facing the hidden agenda of school and homework.  As kids get older we worry a lot, because the future (and adulthood) are looming.

So, we medicate.  We yell.  We punish. We harangue. We nag.We nag. We nag.

Recognize that school and homework are the vehicles we have used to transmit values like the ones listed..  Unless you are going off the grid and avoiding school altogether, then the hidden agenda of school (homework) is working every day.

Homework largely has little to do with real learning and much more to do with shaping these values.  It’s not the grades that matter all that much, but the values do.

What’s the answer to any of it?

I’m not saying that kids don’t (at times) need support  to get through their homework, but the message Lucas needs is a pretty simple one delivered in straight-forward, no-nonsense tones:

“Suck it up, Lucas. 30 minutes is not going to kill you.  I’m close by if you need any help.”

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Not in the South Jersey area? For a free 15 Minute Consultation, contact Dr. Selznick: email – contact@drselz.com.

To receive free Dyslexia Infographics and updates, go to: www.shutdownlearner.com.

Last week we talked about a trend that I see in childhood where kids will have major whining events or meltdowns over seemingly small to medium amounts of frustration (discomfort), such as homework.  We gave it a name F.I.D or Frustration Intolerance Disorder.

Here’s one mom’s response to the post:

Don’t keep us in suspense!!! I’m sure I’m not the only parent that deals with this issue on a daily basis. In a world of instant gratification, our children cannot handle any sort of discomfort (mental or physical). It is a daily battle in our household. It is one of the most frustrating challenges of parenting today.

We’ve completely indulged our children in more than just material goods. We’ve told our children how great they are to a fault. Trying to foster self- confident children, we’ve created self-absorbed, impatient monsters that are not equipped to deal with any distress.

With the way child rearing is headed it scares me to think about what generation and future generations will become.

I guess that lays it out pretty clearly.

I know there are elaborate behavioral systems out there and programs that train parents (and teachers) to be on top of their game for exquisite responding at the moment of melt-down, but most parents that I know don’t have the time or energy for all of that.

Much more “meat and potatoes” guidance is needed to try and do two things:

1. Reduce the frequency of these occurring,
2. Responding effectively when they do occur.

Responding Effectively When Occurring

To respond effectively there are some basic principles to embrace.  These principles guide you as a parent.

It’s my experience that when you take care of this one (#2), then #1 takes care of itself.

• Once the child starts whining or moving toward the meltdown state, think of it as the child is baiting the hook and trying to suck you in. DON’T BITE THE BAIT.   Do anything but bite the bait.  Go outside for fresh air, pour water cold water on your face, anything but engage.  Engaging is oxygen for the smoldering fire.
• As a famous phrase goes, remind yourself that, “This too shall pass.” Think of it as unpleasant noise or a storm.  (You don’t yell at storms.) Just make sure the knives and breakables are out of the child’s reach.
• After the “storm” has passed, calmly ask your child, “Are you ready to try again. I am happy to help out if you’d like.”  Understand that it is totally the child’s choice.  If he doesn’t want to go back to completing his work, then that’s his choice.  He can choose to be unhappy.  But,  there is no access to any of the various and sundry “pleasurables” that are within reach such as iPads or whatever. 
• Keep in mind relative to point three, that you are not punishing your child and you aren’t setting up a control battle. He just hasn’t made the choice that will lead to the usual “pleasurables.”
• If the child starts whining for something like a video game or some other such pleasurable, calmly state, something like, ”Aww, it’s such a shame, but iPads and video games only comes to kids who choose to face their work. Let me know when you are ready.

When the child manages things well, praise and put a nice check on a visible calendar – a paper one, not on your phone.

That’s it.

Usually in these situations parents are expending all kinds of energy, yelling, arguing, cajoling and getting themselves all worked up. It’s exhausting and depleting. In this approach, (The shrugging and “Oh, well” style of parenting) the parent expend very little to no effort and puts the choice squarely where it belongs – on the child.

Reducing the Frequency

When you don’t give it fuel it starts to die out over time.

You can explain during moments of openness such as “tuck in time” something like the following

“I want you to understand that the whining and fits that you are having are  going to stop.  You’re a big boy/girl (even if the child is little it doesn’t matter) and big boys manage their homework on their own.  Mommy will be close by if you need help, but when you start to whine, complain or cry I am going to leave the room. When you’re calm, I will come back and work on the problem together.”

After tuck in, pour yourself a glass of wine and forget about it!!

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Not in the South Jersey area? For a free 15 Minute Consultation, contact Dr. Selznick: email – contact@shutdownlearner.com.

To receive free Dyslexia Infographics and updates, go to: www.shutdownlearner.com.

I don’t know if it’s an official documented trend or not, but there is something that I have seen in kids (boys, in particular).  To give it a name, we’ll coin a new term, “Frustration Intolerance Disorder” or F.I.D.

FID manifests in many ways, the chief among them are meltdowns (e.g., total spasmodic fits) when encountering mild or moderate frustration.  The frustration may be come from sources like homework, but can also show up while playing video game, engaging with sports or anything where the child is asked to do something that causes some difficulty or is unpleasant.

Look, I know when I say the following, I risk placing myself back in the era of log cabins, but I don’t remember any of us as kids melting down when we lost a game, missed a shot or struck out.  Sure we didn’t like losing, but there were never full-out tantrum-fit.  I think we would have been mortified if we had one.

Take Blaine, age 7. He thinks he is a really special athlete. (His family certainly has told him so many times in his short life.)  Somewhat a more natural an athlete in his estimation than his peers, James shows good sports instincts while playing basketball, swinging a baseball bat or hitting a tennis ball, for example.  His parents’ first child, they have watched his every swing and shot, praising him lavishly with the successes they have dutifully witnessed.

Blaine and his dad recently went to a pitch and putt golf course.  Of course, Blaine’s sense of self was such that he thought he would sink virtually every putt that he had to make.  Well, after two holes missing putts that professional could miss, Blaine had a display of FID, throwing himself on the ground, melting down, crying and pounding the ground.  His dad did his best to console him, by telling him how wonderful he really was.

The girls can be in the mix too.  Take young Chloe, age 5.  Chloe overreacts to everything.  For example, while putting Chloe in her car seat, her father jostled her slightly beyond what she expected and she started crying and screaming at her dad that he was hurting her on purpose.  Chloe’s dad apologized profusely to her so as to try and calm her down and help her regain a sense of composure.  Some call it “sensory” with Chloe – that is she has “sensory” issues and that’s why she reacts like she does.  I’m not so sure, as she never shows these behaviors in school or in other situations beyond the home interactions.

It’s not just young kids though.

Mark, age 15, is very tied in to his X-Box, playing games with his “friends” (you know the people online that he “socializes” with who he has never met) about four or five hours a day.  The other night while his parents were upstairs, they heard James have a teen meltdown.  Cursing, throwing his game controller against the wall and nearly putting his fist threw the dry wall, James was heard screaming, “I suck…I suck.”  When his parents went  to calm him down, Mark was inconsolable.

These FID-like kids are not easy and in many ways they are the product of our current child-rearing philosophy of no frustration along with the over concern of self-esteem, making sure that the child feels overly positive in every situation.

There is no quick fix, no magic solution, but there may be a few considerations when looking at FID.  We will address this in upcoming blog posts.

Takeaway Point

In modern childhood there may be a trend in the making – we have labeled it Frustration Intolerance Disorder. 

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Not in the South Jersey area? For a free 15 Minute Consultation, contact Dr. Selznick: email – contact@shutdownlearner.com.

To receive free Dyslexia Infographics and updates, go to: www.shutdownlearner.com.

Here are a couple of things to consider from an informal survey I have conducted with kids and the parents regarding the children they know in their social circle and at school:

• 95-99% of the kids starting at age 12 have cell phones.
• 95-99% of kids age 4 – 7 are playing on devices like iPads.

That’s a lot of kids on devices.

How are they doing with their devices? Here are a few stories from the technology front.

• While walking home from school, one kid, Matt, age 12, is so absorbed in his phone that he comes close to getting run over, as an irate motorist shocks him out of his phone absorption to avoid getting hit.

• Another child, an 11 year old, rides on his bicycle talking on the phone. While swerving in and out on the road, he is looking at the screen as he holds his phone in one hand and the the handlebars with the other.

• George, age 14, posts a very scary message on Snapchat that could have easily had the police knocking on his door. He was stunned that his message caused people to get upset.

• A five year old had an hour-long melt-down, throwing everything around his room after his parents told him he needed to get off of the iPad and come to dinner.

• Another 7 year old also melts down when his parents make a half-hearted attempt to have quiet time to get the child to read for a half hour. “I hate reading; it’s stupid and boring,” he screamed as he slammed the door of his room refusing to read.

I’m sure there are all kinds of guidelines out there on children and their device use, and I’m sure that most of you know the importance of having something like the norton secure vpn to help when it comes to online security, but here are a few of mine to help you through these perilous waters:

1. Above all, remember, DEVICES ARE A PRIVILEGE.

Just like driving a car at 16 or 17, it is a privilege to be handed the keys, not a right. Modern kids think that access to iPads, cellphones, etc. are a right. You need to straighten them out about this concept. Explain to them that the only thing you are required to provide is clothing, food and shelter. There are no rights when it comes to devices.

2. As the saying goes, “The Lord giveth and Lord taketh,” so it goes with their devices – only this time it’s you as parents deciding whether device use is being misused.

3. Lay out the rules very clearly. If the rules are not followed and the privilege is being abused, then it’s a great learning experience to see what happens. Such a learning experience also sets the groundwork for the future when the kid wants the privilege of driving.

4. If they have temporarily lost the privilege of their devices, don’t fall for impassioned manipulations such as they,”must have them for school work!!!!!” Write the school a note to let them know your child is temporarily not allowed to have access to any devices. The school will more than appreciate that you are taking a stand.

5. Finally, stay strong. Be clear. Don’t weaken. From where I sit, they are all becoming little screen junkies anyway, so you need to really set your boundaries and be vigilant.

Takeaway Point

Devices are a a privilege.

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For a free 15 Minute Consultation, contact Dr. Selznick: email – contact@shutdownlearner.com.

To receive free Dyslexia Infographic and updates, go to: www.shutdownlearner.com.

Summer. We’re almost there. You can feel it. The Parent Stress Meter starts to lower by degrees.

Every year around this time of year in parent magazines and other related sources, you will see articles like, “Top Tips for Successful Summer Learning” or some variation on that theme.

For the kids that have been struggling during the school year, here is Selznick’s 9-Point Summer Plan to keep in mind as we go into the haze of summer.

1. Kids Need to Be Kids. They need to play, run around, and have fun. That should be the top priority in the summer.
2. Getting Off the Screens. Break their screen dependency. Get them outside. You may have go through a Screen Detox period, but hang tough.
3. Less Competitive. Maybe your child has been “stressing” through the year over all of the evaluations, worksheets and tests that he/she has received, and needs a less pressured, less competitive summer experience.
4. Follow Their Lead. What’s your child’s leanings and interests? For example, if your kid is a reptile/swamp type of kid, try and find an outdoor camp that taps into his passion. There may not be an exact match in your area, but try and find something close to the interest.
5. Turn Down the Heat. Save some energy and strive to turn down the yelling, badgering, and pecking that is popular in households. It isn’t working. It’s only making your household hotter and the kid isn’t saying, “Thanks for yelling, mom, I understand. I will start reading now.”
6. Independent Reading in the Zone of Competence. Sure, it’s great to have the child read some books this summer, but, you must have them read in their “zone of competence,” that is their instructional comfort level. Make sure you know the grade level your child is reading. Talk to the local librarian to guide you on some good books within the child’s zone of competence. One simple test to determine appropriateness is to have the child read out loud from a random page in a book that you are considering. How does the child sound? If the reading is relatively smooth, you’re probably ok with the book, at least in terms of the basic readability.
7. Family Games. Find some old school family games to play (see point 2 – video games don’t count). It doesn’t have to be overly involved – play some Uno, for example. Old school lawn games are fun too. Maybe start a group jigsaw puzzle. Again, there may be some initial whining as you go through Screen Detox, but if you work through it, they will come around.
8. Tutoring/Skill Development. After all of the above are in place, summer is a good time to target key skill areas that are in need of development. Before you start, though, make sure you know what your goals are for the summer tutoring before beginning. What’s the target of tutoring? Decoding? Comprehension? Writing? Math? Word problems?
9. Don’t Think About September Every time you start thinking about something like school and September coming, let it go. Notice your breath and breathe in the summer!

That’s it – The Selznick 9 Point Summer Plan.

Yep.

Summer time and the living is easy.

For a free 15 Minute Consultation, contact Dr. Selznick: email – contact@shutdownlearner.com.

To receive free Dyslexia Infographics and updates, go to: www.shutdownlearner.com.

We recently raised the issue of iPads, gaming and social media as our children (and we) are becoming more transfixed, spending increasing “T.O.D.” (aka, Time On Devices) (See: Kids & Their Devices).

Much of what we are concerned about is based on anecdotal evidence, you know, the things we see in day-to-day life. We collect images that are concerning on some level, like when we see kids glued to iPads in restaurants or at the dinner table.

Beyond the anecdotal what does some of the actual evidence tell us?

A research poll conducted with 1200 teens and parents by Common Sense Media found teens spending an average of 9 hours a day on devices, while “tweens” are clocking in around 6 hours.

So multiplying daily usage over 365 days in the year, teens are spending over 3,000 hours a year on average, with tweens over 2,000. The overexposure to social media can have damaging effects on young people who see idealized concepts of how they believe others are living and this can in turn contribute to a growing depression in this digital generation who are hanging onto feelings of inadequacy. Something like Honey Lake teen depression treatment may be sought in order to get young people back on the road to mental wellness using a Bible-based approach.

Other findings from the study

• 50% of those polled said they feel addicted to their devices.
• Distraction: 77% of parents feel their child gets distracted by his or her devices and doesn’t pay attention when they are together.
• Conflict: One-third of parents and teens (36% and 32% respectively) say they argue with each other on a daily basis about device use. (Anecdotally, I believe this percentage to be higher.)
• Risky behavior: 56% of parents admit to checking their mobile devices while driving and 51% of teens see their parents checking/using their mobile devices when driving.
• Compulsion: 72% of teens and 48% of parents feel a need to immediately respond to texts, social networking messages and other notifications from their mobile devices.

Back to the anecdotal, an interview I conducted with my dear friend and colleague Fran Sherman, LCSW, who specializes in teen depression said some of the following about what she has seen in her practice:

• “Kids know about sites that we have no clue about.”
• “Regardless of parent limit setting, kids find ways around it.”
• “Girls meeting older guys on the internet and sending pictures – it happens all the time and they think it’s ok.”
• “Many kids have no fear about taking pictures (of a sexual nature) and sending.”
• “At risk kids (e.g., kids diagnosed bipolar, ADHD, autism spectrum ) are at particular risk because of poor assessment of consequence and attention seeking.”

Had enough yet?

Obviously, as we go about our day checking our phones (another study showed we check an average of 46 times a day) and another study found 81% of us looking at phones in restaurants, we have to check our A.H.I. (i.e., the Adult Hypocrisy Index), as kids will quickly call you on it.

So, before you try and modify your child’s behavior, you may need to be doing a little self-modification.

Next step after checking your A.H.I. is to spend at least a chunk of the weekend in areas where there are no links to technology (i.e, the outdoors). In other words, take your kids on a hike or something and leave the phone in the car (shocking a proposition as that may be). While being indoors, engage them with activities like Dark Souls board Game or Marvel Champions Card Game. Additionally, these games help your kids stay engaged and stay away from phones. Thus, making them perfect gifts for 15 year old boys.

Even something as simple as playing going to a restaurant without iPads. (Kids coloring with crayons at the table is still old school enough to be acceptable.)

With both such scenarios you will probably go through a period of detox with the kids.

It’s worth it though.

Just remember, Steve Jobs, with the no iPad policy that he had in his house, was on your side.

This week I gave a talk called Social Media, Gaming, & the Internet: The Good & Bad News (ok, it’s mostly bad). 

Some of the questions raised included the following questions:

• What is impact of extended use of different technology?
• Can kids be addicted to their technology?
• How do we as adults (digital tourists) manage or respond to the “digital natives?”
• Are we being unnecessarily hysterical about technology with or are there reasons to be concerned?
• Are we being hypocritical in our positions? That is, if we are on our phones and devices throughout the day, can we justifiably be critical of our children’s T.O.D. (i.e., Time on Device).

As I did my background reading for the talk, I learned something that I found pretty astounding.

Guess who did not allow iPads into his home?

That’s right, Steven Jobs.  So while Jobs was promoting iPads as the device that would revolutionize our lives, he was wary about his own children becoming taken over by them.

Not only that, apparently many of the leading tech gurus of Silicon Valley sent their children to private schools that are completely technology free, like the Waldorf School.

So, while most public schools are having kids on Chrome books and iPads throughout the school day, the technology leaders of the industry are going the opposite way with their own children.

Hmmm, I wonder what that is telling us?

(To read more about Steve Jobs and other low tech parents of Silicon Valley, click here: Steve Jobs Was a Low Tech Parent)

(More to come on children and their devices  in later posts.)