Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine contacted 106 adolescents up to 60 times via cellphone over 5 weeks to ask about their media use at the time of the call. Forty-six teens had already been diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder. Of the five media activities (television or movies, music, video games, Internet, and print media, such as magazines, newspapers, and books), only listening to music and reading were correlated with depression. In other words, the depressed teens were significantly more likely to be listening to music and less likely to be reading print media than the non-depressed teens. The researchers properly conclude that the association does not prove causality.
Friday, August 25, 2017
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
8 Ways to Teach Kids Self-Discipline Skills
The ultimate goal of discipline should be for your child to learn self-discipline. Your rules, consequences, and rewards should teach your child how to manage his behavior better.When kids have self-discipline, they're able to make healthy choices for themselves. Whether that means turning off the electronics so they can get their homework done or it means resisting an extra cookie when Mom isn't looking, self-discipline is the key to helping kids become responsible adults. Read more: https://www.verywell.com/teach-kids-self-discipline-skills-1095034
Monday, May 15, 2017
Emotional and Behavioral Disorders :: You’re Not Alone, Mom
I’ve taught Special Education for 9 years now, focusing almost entirely on working with students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBDs.) Generally- and very simply- speaking, an emotional/behavioral disorder is a chronic pattern of inappropriate feelings or actions under normal circumstances. For the sake of this post, I’m going to focus on EBDs that manifest through aggressive behaviors.
Emotional and Behavioral disorders don’t gain a lot of attention. These students somehow fall under the umbrella of Special Education, yet just right out of it’s reach. This population presents a unique need, and there isn’t a lot of sympathy, or even empathy in the world of EBDs. The days are often long, sometimes unsettling, and, honestly, not often rewarding. And when I first began, it seemed like everyone else confidently knew the answer or was sure they had the “fix”- everyone seemed to have an opinion. And among the many things I’ve heard in my role as a Special Ed teacher, from advice to criticism, there’s one phrase that makes me want to pull my hair out:
“It’s the parents’ fault.”
The parents’ fault. The people who don’t have a choice but to endure and try to understand and “fix” disabilities that only seem to manifest themselves through dramatic mood swings, irrationality, and sometimes violence. The parent. The mothers. The fathers. The people who are people trying to figure out what’s best for their children, just like the rest of us are. I once went to a conference, and the speaker there mentioned that parents of kids with emotional and behavioral disorders may be experiencing the most insidious kind of domestic violence: the only kind of domestic violence where we routinely blame the victims.
When I start discussing what I do with friends, I am often asked if I think it’s bad parenting or the parent’s fault, or even if these kids learned the behavior from their parents. In the beginning of my career, I had no idea how to answer whether parents were the chicken or the egg when it came to their child’s behavior. Are the kids this way because of or in spite of the parents? I think there’s a huge assumption that violent kids must experience violence at home. I’m not entirely sure what the research says on that, but what I do know is that there are kids that do witness violence in their home, and don’t engage in aggressive behaviors. Emotional and Behavioral disorders are organically occurring. I’m guessing there might be some environmental factors that exacerbate aggressive behaviors- as there are with non-aggressive traits- but I’m still maintaining that, no, it’s not the parents’ fault.
More at: http://indianapolis.citymomsblog.com/school/emotional-and-behavioral-disorders-youre-not-alone-mom/
Emotional and Behavioral disorders don’t gain a lot of attention. These students somehow fall under the umbrella of Special Education, yet just right out of it’s reach. This population presents a unique need, and there isn’t a lot of sympathy, or even empathy in the world of EBDs. The days are often long, sometimes unsettling, and, honestly, not often rewarding. And when I first began, it seemed like everyone else confidently knew the answer or was sure they had the “fix”- everyone seemed to have an opinion. And among the many things I’ve heard in my role as a Special Ed teacher, from advice to criticism, there’s one phrase that makes me want to pull my hair out:
“It’s the parents’ fault.”
The parents’ fault. The people who don’t have a choice but to endure and try to understand and “fix” disabilities that only seem to manifest themselves through dramatic mood swings, irrationality, and sometimes violence. The parent. The mothers. The fathers. The people who are people trying to figure out what’s best for their children, just like the rest of us are. I once went to a conference, and the speaker there mentioned that parents of kids with emotional and behavioral disorders may be experiencing the most insidious kind of domestic violence: the only kind of domestic violence where we routinely blame the victims.
When I start discussing what I do with friends, I am often asked if I think it’s bad parenting or the parent’s fault, or even if these kids learned the behavior from their parents. In the beginning of my career, I had no idea how to answer whether parents were the chicken or the egg when it came to their child’s behavior. Are the kids this way because of or in spite of the parents? I think there’s a huge assumption that violent kids must experience violence at home. I’m not entirely sure what the research says on that, but what I do know is that there are kids that do witness violence in their home, and don’t engage in aggressive behaviors. Emotional and Behavioral disorders are organically occurring. I’m guessing there might be some environmental factors that exacerbate aggressive behaviors- as there are with non-aggressive traits- but I’m still maintaining that, no, it’s not the parents’ fault.
More at: http://indianapolis.citymomsblog.com/school/emotional-and-behavioral-disorders-youre-not-alone-mom/
Thursday, May 4, 2017
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Justin Urbas - 3 easy ways you should use to reduce anxiety and stress from your child
The symptoms of anxiety are observed commonly among children of all ages. However, these problems seem to be more serious when kids are their adolescence. As per the Child Psychiatrists, almost 10-12% of kids during their school going days suffer from anxiety disorder and in many cases, it affects their personality in future also. Thus, whenever you find that your kids are getting stressed, you should take steps immediately to comfort them. But, the task is challenging to many parents. Here, Justin Urbas, has suggested some tips, which you can follow while managing stress among children.
Teach kids to face the fears:
To reduce the level of anxiety, at first you have to teach them how to face the fear. Kids have a tendency to avoid the situations which make them feel uncomfortable. However, researchers say that the anxiety level of kids reduces naturally, if they start facing difficult situations. While making kids familiar with such stressful situations, make sure that you are not forcing them anyway. Otherwise, they will get more stressed.
Encourage positive thinking:
Often the kids, whose anxiety level is high, lose themselves in self-criticism and negative thinking. It, in turn, increases the stress level of kids. You can reduce it significantly by encouraging the positive thinking. Teach them how to build confidence. Along with it, also teach how to learn from mistakes. Often the parents focus on making kids succeed in every field. Obviously, being successful is important. But, your kids should know they everything cannot be perfect.
Have some relaxing activity everyday:
In modern hectic schedule, spending quality time with kids, is quite difficult for many parents. Several studies are indicating that such lifestyle also causes stress among little kids. To avoid this, Justin Urbas suggests to have some fun activities every day for kids
Teach kids to face the fears:
To reduce the level of anxiety, at first you have to teach them how to face the fear. Kids have a tendency to avoid the situations which make them feel uncomfortable. However, researchers say that the anxiety level of kids reduces naturally, if they start facing difficult situations. While making kids familiar with such stressful situations, make sure that you are not forcing them anyway. Otherwise, they will get more stressed.
Encourage positive thinking:
Often the kids, whose anxiety level is high, lose themselves in self-criticism and negative thinking. It, in turn, increases the stress level of kids. You can reduce it significantly by encouraging the positive thinking. Teach them how to build confidence. Along with it, also teach how to learn from mistakes. Often the parents focus on making kids succeed in every field. Obviously, being successful is important. But, your kids should know they everything cannot be perfect.
Have some relaxing activity everyday:
In modern hectic schedule, spending quality time with kids, is quite difficult for many parents. Several studies are indicating that such lifestyle also causes stress among little kids. To avoid this, Justin Urbas suggests to have some fun activities every day for kids
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Parenting strategies from Justin Urbas to handle kids with ADHD
The signs of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) among kids pose severe challenges to the parents. However, here Justin Urbas presented some parenting techniques, with which you can raise such kids properly. But, before that, know the common challenges that kids with ADHD mostly encounter.
Challenges faced by kids with ADHD:
The kids who have attention deficit issues, face the following problems-
➢Losing track of things they are doing
➢Having problems to complete home tasks
➢Difficulties to complete assigned tasks
➢Overreacting to failure
If the issues related to attention deficiency are not managed on time, these can grow more and more intense over time.
Parenting strategies suggested by Urbas:
The above stated issues can be handled if you use the tips mentioned below.
Staying calm: When you are controlling your kid with ADHD, make sure that your own emotion is under control. Once you start losing your temper, so the child will do. As a result, the entire communication will not give any positive outcome. The experts consider that any argument with the child just makes the situation worse. So, during the entire process, you have to keep patience.
Limit your own activities:
To get rid of the problems, you should put limit on your own activities. Generally the parents have tendency to assist kids in each and every task. However, you should remember that more you will assist the child, less he/she will learn to do. For example, during a homework session, you can ask kids whether they need any help from you, but never start doing the tasks they are given. If you want to keep an eye on them, sit beside and do your own work such as paying bills etc.
Finally, you should also ensure that the child is experiencing positive consequences for his/ her positive behavior. It will also help them to behave properly.
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