Their Tube
When every moment of childhood can be recorded and shared, what happens to childhood? The boys in the YouTube videos always land their bottles perfectly upright. Max Cole has spent hours studying their routine, and now, his own viewers are waiting: Empty half the blue juice. Hold the Powerade bottle by its cap. Flip it into the air and– “Dude!” Max shouts. “It landed!” Max, who is 6, waves his arms. He knows just how to overreact to get his audience excited, what makes them c
The 5 Pieces of Advice I'd Give About Screens If Parents Ever Asked
The explosion of tech and screens into the lives of children is outrageously obvious to me as a pediatrician. Besides the fact that most kids and parents seem to be attached to a phone or tablet when I enter the exam room, when I ask questions about how kids spend their days (and nights), screens seem to be part of everything. You'd think that I'd get questions from parents about screen time and about how best to use devices with their kids. But I don't. Like, never. This is
Intel Releases the Technology that Gives Stephen Hawking a Voice
Stephen Hawking's computer-synthesized voice has narrated a Monty Python song, given hope to One Direction fans and asked the biggest questions in the universe. Now, people with disabilities across the world will have access to Hawking's custom technology. Hawking has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, one of the symptoms of which can be an impaired voice. He worked with Intel for three years to develop the Assistive Context-Aware Toolkit that gives him an artificial voic
3 Unexpected Ways to Help Your Kids be Mindful about Screen Time
Scientists may be debating whether our attachment to technology should be considered a formal addiction, but parents of school-aged children don't need to wait for academic consensus to recognize that our devices have in many ways transformed our lives and family dynamic. "It's an interesting question about whether we're addicted or just overly attached," James A. Roberts, author of the forthcoming book Too Much Of A Good Thing: Are You Addicted To Your Smartphone? told The H
Summertime for Moms: Expectations vs. Reality
Summertime for Moms: Expectations vs. Reality Expectations Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1) You'll take the kids to the pool 1) You'll take them IF the weather is perfect twice a week. AND you remembered to shave. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Millennials are the first unbored generation - here's why that's a problem
We are quickly approaching a world where boredom may become a thing of the past. Smartphones give us near limitless access to computer games, funny videos, and an ocean of conversation partners. In other words, what we understand as boredom might seem strange or downright silly to future generations. The idea of having "nothing to do" may be an antiquated concept. Indeed, a Pew poll released last week finds that nearly all 18-to-29-year-olds use a smartphone to avoid boredom.
Have You Lost Your Child to a Smartphone?
I recently reached out to a number of parents, six to be exact, about my concern for our children and what personal technology is doing to their minds, moods, behavior, relationships and just about everything else. Specifically, I pointed out what I witness: the constant need for distraction, relating to the device rather than the peson they are with; chronic fear of missing out on what might be happening on the device; continual posting of selfies (often in lieu of enjoying