November 2nd, 2016
I think most of us would agree that we live in a democratic country and that we enjoy the freedom to dictate how our lives will be. We choose what we want to be "when we grow up" and where we want to live. We choose when to have sex and with whom. We now get to decide when we'd like to get married and whether or not we want to have children. We get to raise those children according to our values; breastfeed, bottle feed, take a year of maternity leave, go back to work, send our children to catholic school, pubic school, private school or, homeschool.
However, in many ways, we have very little control on a daily basis. The first thing that comes to mind is the election in the USA. Yes, people can choose between Clinton and Trump but neither of those candidates are particularly endearing. What if you don't like either candidate? You still have to vote for one of those two otherwise you are letting others decide for you who will run the country. Either way, it's going to be one of those two, you have no other choices.
Closer to home, a very cold season is approaching. Hydro is charging us way too much money to heat our homes but what are our options? Do we have alternatives? If you have loads of money, you can get solar panels or wind mills but these cost a lot of money and in this climate, they don't give you the reliability you need to keep your family cozy throughout this very long season. Therefore, you still need Hydro to a certain extent.
Want to watch television? There are hundreds of channels so you feel pretty lucky right? Why is it that you spend so much time channel surfing without finding the content you want to watch? You have a bunch of channels that are replicated and they offer you programming, perhaps what you want to watch, maybe not. If you call the cable company to inquire about your favourite program, you may find out that you need to pay for an add-on or that it's only available in the USA.
When tax time comes along, we all complain about the amount of our income that is snatched up by the government. Can we do anything about it? If you know are an accountant and you know the loopholes, you may save some money but the fact of the matter is, you keep working harder and the more you make, the more you lose in taxation. I recall looking at my pay stub as a college professor. I thought I was making a great income but it turns out I wasn't making much more than I did when I was a student. By the time, my benefits and pension were removed, I factored in the tax deductions, union fees and the cost of having my job, babysitter, parking, lunches etc.. and I realized that I was keeping very little of my hard earned money.
Living in a rural area means that you have less choice where to shop. I was looking for boots for my daughters. I had to drive into town to buy their boots because I couldn't get anything that fit my 8 year old in town. When I go out to supper with my husband, there aren't too many restaurants to choose from. We either drive out to Manotick or Merrickville or we stay in town and eat pub food.
We are praised for our health care system but many of the alternative services or products are not covered by insurance so if I choose to take fish oil for brain health I absorb the cost. If I use a chemical pill for the same purpose it will be covered. On the few occasions that I have called my doctor's office for an appointment when one of my daughters had an ear infection, they told me they had no appointments left for that day. They can't book me in for the next day, I have to call again the next morning to see if they can fit us in. When your child is in pain, you can't try to get in three days in a row, especially if the ear infection occurs on a Friday. You end up in the emergency room.
If your car breaks down and you take it in to the garage, chances are it won't be an easy, cheap fix. The cost of parts is often more expensive than the cost of labour. However, you pay for it because you need to get to work and there are no buses out here to go for groceries or take your kids to karate class or whatever else you need to do.
As I write, I am thinking to myself, Holy Anne, you are such a downer on this beautiful, sunny day. The reason I am writing about this is because I have had a few experiences lately that indicate to me that we may have more choices than we realize. We are generally a pretty passive people, we expect the status quo but we may not have to. It requires effort to research our options but it pays off big time.
Politically, we can do our homework and figure out what each candidate stands for, we can get involved and push for changes. We can be an instrument to raise awareness about important issues. Hydro is powerful because we have not reached the point where enough people can afford an alternative. I read about a company in Ottawa that sells and installs solar blinds, less expensive than panels but paired with a wood burning stove, geothermal system and energy efficient home, it may considerably affect our expenses. Check out www.krumperssolarsolutions.ca.
My husband and I visited a friend who has a Smart Tv box that plugs directly into the HDMI feed and streams television shows and movies from all over the world, way more choices than we get from our cable and, we are told, it only has a once in a lifetime cost. My husband was quite smitten with this system and found old movies and programs he wasn't able to find. It even had his mom's British shows available for when she comes over for her next visit. I think I know what will be on his Christmas list.
Using an informed, competent accountant who can help you make important decisions about where to invest your money all year, can make a huge difference when tax time rolls around. There may be tax credits that you are entitled to and that you don't know about. A good accountant knows and can guide you through this stressful process. When it comes to dining options, we need to support local talent when we find it. Had a great meal, discovered a gem of a restaurant? Tell everyone, use social media to spread the word so these businesses can be busy and stay busy. Comfort was an awesome restaurant with delicious food and a warm atmosphere but it shut down because it wasn't making enough money to sustain it, very sad.
Investing in your health, using alternative services, raising awareness about their effectiveness and recommending them to others is the best way to promote them and get them, eventually recognized by the powers that be. Massage therapists used to be one of those services not covered by insurance. Now they are. Also, when your mechanic gives you a quote re: the cost of fixing your car, ask for details about the piece that needs to be ordered. Look online for that piece and you'd be surprised how often you can order that exact piece, for half the price. You have just cut down the cost, more money in your pocket. We have more choices than we realize. The more we question and investigate, the more options open up for us.
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
Showing posts with label alternatives. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alternatives. Show all posts
Wednesday, 2 November 2016
Thursday, 28 January 2016
The Impact of Technology on our Children
January 28th, 2016
A few weeks ago, my eldest daughter, age 10, had a sleepover party for her birthday. I wrote a post about my reaction to the use of technology by her friends during the sleepover. My daughters were introduced to new apps during the party and I noticed an increase in their use of technology. This alarmed me because we have always done fun activities together after school. We do art, cook, do each other's nails and play hang man. Sometimes, if the weather cooperates, we play on our snow hill or toboggan out back. We also like to play ball with our lab who will run up the stairs to chase her ball hundreds of times. She also likes to play hide and seek. We hide while she is chasing her ball and she has to find us. The girls always laugh, making it easy for the dog.
Suddenly, nothing I suggested interested my daughters. They wanted to "join worlds" on Minecraft or play with Angela, a cat that matures as you play her app. I had to unplug their technology. They were very upset with me. They stomped off then hung around bored but refusing to engage in any activities with me. They sulked. I even heard one of my daughters crying. What?! Over a computer? At supper, we played headbands. The girls chose what each of us would be and they started to giggle. They decided my husband would be Iggle Piggle. Haha! Then each of our daughters showed us how to do a craft they had learned at school......and just like that, we had our girls back. That was scary.
At my Neurofeedback appointment on Monday, I talked to Carol about this experience. She made a comment that stuck with me. The games are stimulating pleasure centres. I wondered if spending a lot of time on technology pre-disposed the brain to become addicted. If your brain's pleasure centre is stimulated for hours at a time, can real life be anything but boring? What if your brain needs more and more immediate gratification to meet its needs? Wouldn't that lead to exploring sex and drugs in order to create the same response? This freaked me out. I did some digging and here is what I found:
In an article titled, 11 Reasons Why Children Under the Age of 12 Should Not Use Handheld Devices, I learned that the brain grows very quickly in childhood up to the age of 21. "Overexposure to technology impaired executive functioning", attention, cognition, learning, impulsivity and self-regulation. The lack of movement impedes learning and contributes to obesity. Using technology at bedtime, increases sleep deprivation which affects school performance. Exposure to physical and sexual violence through video games increases the child's own aggressive behaviours. The high speed of technology means children are less able to focus for long periods of time, they need this skill to learn in school. Being on the computer for more than 30 minutes also causes eye strain in children. Overuse of technology is linked to depression, anxiety and other mental health issues which are prevalent. Children can become attached to technology in the absence of parental attachment. As if all of this was not enough, the radiation emissions from cell phones are considered "probable carcinogens". For more about this, visit www.foodsandhealthylife.com.
I did some research to find out how playing on the iPad resulted in addiction. An article by David J. Linden on www.psychologytoday.com titled, Video Games Can Activate the Brain's Pleasure Circuits, proved my theory. David performed brain scans of men and women playing simple video games. He detected "rapid brain dopamine release". This was also measure with PET scans during an other study. He saw that "key regions of the medial forebrain pleasure centre circuit were also activated, including the nucleus accumbens as well as the amygdala, and the orbitofrontal cortex".
The cycle of addiction is well explained on www.helpguide.org, under the heading, Understanding Addiction. "Addiction hijacks the brain. This happens as the brain goes through a series of changes, beginning with recognition of pleasure and ending with a drive toward compulsive behaviour". The speed of the release of dopamine determines how addictive an experience will be. "The hippocampus creates a memory of this satisfaction and the amygdala creates a conditioned response to this stimuli".
I can certainly see how the immediate gratification and praise available through most computer games would lead to a release of dopamine. As I read this, I was reminded of the Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development, a theory developed by Erik Erikson. I am worried that children are not learning essential skills they can apply in the real world. Instead, they are becoming competent in the virtual world of computers. What will happen when they get older and realize these skills are not transferable? The first stage of Erikson's theory involves learning to trust that your parents will meet your needs. If your parents are busy and you are feeling neglected, you may become attached to technology. It is always there and rewarding. The next stage's challenge is to develop autonomy. Parents encourage their children to explore the world while keeping them safe. They become more confident, develop interests and become self-sufficient (in an age appropriate way). If the child is glued to a computer screen, this exploration is limited and the learning opportunities are lost. In the Initiative stage, children are learning to master their environment. They challenge themselves and feel successful when they reach their goals. Parents can assist with the parts that are a bit challenging. Children can go through an experience and feel proud of their accomplishment. If children are not interested in pursuing interests beyond computers, they gain a sense of mastery while playing that game as their skills develop. However, these skills don't matter when they are at school, needing to complete homework or collaborate in groups on assignments.
This post is my SOS to other parents who are in the same situation. I am not denying that learning computer skills can be helpful or suggesting that technology be banned. However, I am discovering the long term consequences of allowing my children to explore technology for extended periods of time. I will continue to monitor their use of technology and prepare alternative activities to enjoy with my daughters after school. I don't want to lose my girls: their creativity, their spontaneity, their presence to the overstimulating, numbing world of technology.
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
A few weeks ago, my eldest daughter, age 10, had a sleepover party for her birthday. I wrote a post about my reaction to the use of technology by her friends during the sleepover. My daughters were introduced to new apps during the party and I noticed an increase in their use of technology. This alarmed me because we have always done fun activities together after school. We do art, cook, do each other's nails and play hang man. Sometimes, if the weather cooperates, we play on our snow hill or toboggan out back. We also like to play ball with our lab who will run up the stairs to chase her ball hundreds of times. She also likes to play hide and seek. We hide while she is chasing her ball and she has to find us. The girls always laugh, making it easy for the dog.
Suddenly, nothing I suggested interested my daughters. They wanted to "join worlds" on Minecraft or play with Angela, a cat that matures as you play her app. I had to unplug their technology. They were very upset with me. They stomped off then hung around bored but refusing to engage in any activities with me. They sulked. I even heard one of my daughters crying. What?! Over a computer? At supper, we played headbands. The girls chose what each of us would be and they started to giggle. They decided my husband would be Iggle Piggle. Haha! Then each of our daughters showed us how to do a craft they had learned at school......and just like that, we had our girls back. That was scary.
At my Neurofeedback appointment on Monday, I talked to Carol about this experience. She made a comment that stuck with me. The games are stimulating pleasure centres. I wondered if spending a lot of time on technology pre-disposed the brain to become addicted. If your brain's pleasure centre is stimulated for hours at a time, can real life be anything but boring? What if your brain needs more and more immediate gratification to meet its needs? Wouldn't that lead to exploring sex and drugs in order to create the same response? This freaked me out. I did some digging and here is what I found:
In an article titled, 11 Reasons Why Children Under the Age of 12 Should Not Use Handheld Devices, I learned that the brain grows very quickly in childhood up to the age of 21. "Overexposure to technology impaired executive functioning", attention, cognition, learning, impulsivity and self-regulation. The lack of movement impedes learning and contributes to obesity. Using technology at bedtime, increases sleep deprivation which affects school performance. Exposure to physical and sexual violence through video games increases the child's own aggressive behaviours. The high speed of technology means children are less able to focus for long periods of time, they need this skill to learn in school. Being on the computer for more than 30 minutes also causes eye strain in children. Overuse of technology is linked to depression, anxiety and other mental health issues which are prevalent. Children can become attached to technology in the absence of parental attachment. As if all of this was not enough, the radiation emissions from cell phones are considered "probable carcinogens". For more about this, visit www.foodsandhealthylife.com.
I did some research to find out how playing on the iPad resulted in addiction. An article by David J. Linden on www.psychologytoday.com titled, Video Games Can Activate the Brain's Pleasure Circuits, proved my theory. David performed brain scans of men and women playing simple video games. He detected "rapid brain dopamine release". This was also measure with PET scans during an other study. He saw that "key regions of the medial forebrain pleasure centre circuit were also activated, including the nucleus accumbens as well as the amygdala, and the orbitofrontal cortex".
The cycle of addiction is well explained on www.helpguide.org, under the heading, Understanding Addiction. "Addiction hijacks the brain. This happens as the brain goes through a series of changes, beginning with recognition of pleasure and ending with a drive toward compulsive behaviour". The speed of the release of dopamine determines how addictive an experience will be. "The hippocampus creates a memory of this satisfaction and the amygdala creates a conditioned response to this stimuli".
I can certainly see how the immediate gratification and praise available through most computer games would lead to a release of dopamine. As I read this, I was reminded of the Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development, a theory developed by Erik Erikson. I am worried that children are not learning essential skills they can apply in the real world. Instead, they are becoming competent in the virtual world of computers. What will happen when they get older and realize these skills are not transferable? The first stage of Erikson's theory involves learning to trust that your parents will meet your needs. If your parents are busy and you are feeling neglected, you may become attached to technology. It is always there and rewarding. The next stage's challenge is to develop autonomy. Parents encourage their children to explore the world while keeping them safe. They become more confident, develop interests and become self-sufficient (in an age appropriate way). If the child is glued to a computer screen, this exploration is limited and the learning opportunities are lost. In the Initiative stage, children are learning to master their environment. They challenge themselves and feel successful when they reach their goals. Parents can assist with the parts that are a bit challenging. Children can go through an experience and feel proud of their accomplishment. If children are not interested in pursuing interests beyond computers, they gain a sense of mastery while playing that game as their skills develop. However, these skills don't matter when they are at school, needing to complete homework or collaborate in groups on assignments.
This post is my SOS to other parents who are in the same situation. I am not denying that learning computer skills can be helpful or suggesting that technology be banned. However, I am discovering the long term consequences of allowing my children to explore technology for extended periods of time. I will continue to monitor their use of technology and prepare alternative activities to enjoy with my daughters after school. I don't want to lose my girls: their creativity, their spontaneity, their presence to the overstimulating, numbing world of technology.
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
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