Praise for Reset Your Child’s Brain
“This practical and easy-to-read guide is a much-needed wake-up call for this digital age. Buy Reset Your Child’s Brain for your family, your school, and your local library.”
— Kerry Crofton, PhD, cofounder and executive director of Doctors for Safer Schools and author of A Wellness Guide for the Digital Age
“One of the problems worldwide that relates to this book is sleep deprivation. This has many consequences and — to put it bluntly — makes the sleep-deprived person fat, lazy, stupid, and depressed! The more that books like this expose the problem, the sooner we will be moving to a higher and more secure state of well-being!”
— John J. Ratey, MD, clinical associate professor of psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, and author of Spark
“This book looks at how electronic media use can affect the central nervous system long after the offending device has actually been used — an effect similar to that of drug addiction. It presents new studies that show how, as with drug use, functioning may not be impaired immediately, and in some cases it may even improve initially but then becomes worse. Finally, Dr. Dunckley outlines issues in diagnosis, in assessment, and most important, in treatment for battling and resetting the brain to overcome the rapidly emergent condition of Electronic Screen Syndrome.”
— Dr. Kimberly S. Young, founder and director of the Center for Internet Addiction and www.NetAddiction.com
“Victoria Dunckley makes a convincing case that parents should be very concerned about their children’s constant exposure to electronic screen–based entertainment. Citing medical research as well as her work with hundreds of patients, Dr. Dunckley explains how electronic media overwhelm children’s nervous systems and impair their physical and mental functioning. Families who follow her practical approach to discontinuing electronic screen-time will see dramatic improvement in their children’s health and behavior.”
— Jessica Solodar, award-winning medical journalist and former medical writer for Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Psychiatry and the Child & Adolescent Bipolar Foundation
“Impressively researched, eye-opening, and eminently practical, Reset Your Child’s Brain is an invaluable contribution to any parent’s library. Dr. Dunckley’s plan is sure to provide relief to a great many children — and their families.”
— Craig Malkin, PhD, instructor in psychology, Harvard Medical School, and author of Rethinking Narcissism
“Dr. Victoria Dunckley has given every child psychiatrist and pediatrician in America a wonderful gift. This book gives us a tool to share with the parents of the millions of children in the US who are agitated, unfocused, and out of control. She also answers the question about why this problem has accelerated in the last decade: it is screen-time, not a lack of Ritalin. I completely agree with her premise and her interventions. Thank you!”
— Scott Shannon, MD, integrative child psychiatrist, past president of the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine, and author of Please Don’t Label My Child
“Parents are constantly asking, ‘What are the effects of screen use on my kids, how much is too much, and how can I regulate the use of screens by my kids?’ Finally, thanks to Dr. Dunckley’s Reset Program, parents have the answers and the tools to work on a solution!”
— Ann Corwin, PhD, MEd, parenting education consultant, www.TheParentingDoctor.com
RESET YOUR
CHILD’S BRAIN
| New World Library14 Pamaron WayNovato, California 94949 |
Copyright © 2015 by Victoria Dunckley, MD
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, or other — without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.
The material in this book is intended for education. It is not meant to take the place of diagnosis and treatment by a qualified medical practitioner or therapist. No expressed or implied guarantee of the effects of the use of the recommendations can be given or liability taken.
The author’s experiences used as examples throughout this book are based on true events, although some identifying details have been changed for privacy reasons.
Text design by Tona Pearce-Myers
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dunckley, Victoria L., date.
Reset your child’s brain: a four-week plan to end meltdowns, raise grades, and boost social skills by reversing the effects of electronic screen-time / Victoria L. Dunckley.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60868-284-3 (paperback) — ISBN 978-1-60868-285-0 (ebook)
1. Video games and children—Health aspects. 2. Behavior disorders in children—Prevention. 3. Problem children—Behavior modification. 4. Internet and children. 5. Electronics—Social aspects. 6. Parenting. I. Title.
HQ784.V53D86 2015
004.67'8083—dc23
2014046885
First printing, August 2015
ISBN 978-1-60868-284-3
Printed in Canada on 100% postconsumer-waste recycled paper
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New World Library is proud to be a Gold Certified Environmentally Responsible Publisher. Publisher certification awarded by Green Press Initiative. www.greenpressinitiative.org |
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To all the parents, kids, and young adults I’ve worked with who took the road less traveled by going screen-free. Your efforts, candid feedback, and creative ideas have helped many others already, and will hopefully help many more through this book. I salute you all.
CONTENTS
Introduction: Something Wicked This Way Comes
Part One — Is Your Child’s Brain at Risk?: The Inconvenient Truth about Electronic Screen Media
Chapter 1: Electronic Screen Syndrome: An Unrecognized Disorder
Chapter 4: The Brain Liberated: How Freedom from Electronic Screens Can Change the Brain in Days, Weeks, and Months — and for Years to Come