deadly digital addictions

[mireaux]

a few years back, i read a horrifying story that made national headlines. some floridan teenagers were fighting over who had rightful possession of an xbox console.

the xbox was soon taken over to a teenager's home where his friends had a slumber party. that night, the other teenagers they were fighting with the previous day had broke into their home and killed all of the teens in their sleep by striking them with aluminum baseball bats repeatedly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deltona_massacre

today, i learn of this horrific similiar story....

The Dangers of Digital Detoxing - Road Runner

have we become desensitized to humanity by our growing fondness of technology? are we in a sense,."digital deviants"?

[LeethalDose]

have we become desensitized to humanity by our growing fondness of technology? are we in a sense,."digital deviants"?

For some, yes.

A new twist on the old 'better living thru modern chemistry' - 'better living thru modern technology', eh?

Just a new variation to the basic theme of human deviant behavior. Has been, are and will be those desensitized and deviant.

Wish i could find the online story of the high tech (digital if you will) soldiers - go to work at a computer terminal and "remotely" kill all day then drive home to have dinner with the wife and kids - creates a new kind of stress.

[PennyQuilts]

The technology is wiring our brains, differently. Not kidding. Not going out on a limb and saying it is better or worse but it IS different.

Personally, I wouldn't let my kid near that stuff, at home. But then, I wouldn't let a child under the age of four watch more than about 30 minutes of TV a week, either. Not because of the content but because of the way the screens shift every twenty seconds or so. Want a child that can't concentrate or has ADHD? Plop 'em in front of the flickering television for hours at a time while their little brains are being wired.

[stephy]

The technology is wiring our brains, differently. Not kidding. Not going out on a limb and saying it is better or worse but it IS different.

Personally, I wouldn't let my kid near that stuff, at home. But then, I wouldn't let a child under the age of four watch more than about 30 minutes of TV a week, either. Not because of the content but because of the way the screens shift every twenty seconds or so. Want a child that can't concentrate or has ADHD? Plop 'em in front of the flickering television for hours at a time while their little brains are being wired.

lol! seriously?

Do you also bury thier baby teeth in a bare patch of earth under a full moon to protect them from witches? Or make them cross thier fingers and hold their breath when passing a graveyard?

[MadMonk]

lol! seriously?

Do you also bury thier baby teeth in a bare patch of earth under a full moon to protect them from witches? Or make them cross thier fingers and hold their breath when passing a graveyard?

OMG you have to cross your fingers too!?! I've been doing wrong all these years!

[PennyQuilts]

lol! seriously?

Do you also bury thier baby teeth in a bare patch of earth under a full moon to protect them from witches? Or make them cross thier fingers and hold their breath when passing a graveyard?

Former teacher and years of guardian ad litem experience working with children with ADHD and ADD - which means lots of training and actual life experience in abundance. While we are on the subject, what kind of training and experience to you have with ADD and ADHD?

I doubt if the remedy you described would be effective but to be honest, I haven't tried it. I tend to recommend counseling, tutoring and, after a full medication evaluation and psychological testing, including child studies, medication if recommended by the psychiatrist - but, hey, that's just me.

[bluedogok]

Today it is "digital addiction", years before it was something else and years from now it may be something else. There are always those who will "detach themselves" from others, 30 years ago before computers were in the home it was things like Dungeons & Dragons, etc.

So the trend is nothing new, just the tool or medium is.