BY MATTHEW LYNCH, Edvocate
When it comes to kids and technology, even the most tech-savvy parents proceed with caution, some even going as far as to enroll their children in technology-free schools. Recent research has shown that smartphones, iPads, video games and other electronic devices can have a similar effect as a drug. Those same research studies show that these devices affect the frontal cortex, the part of the brain that controls execution and impulses, in the same way as cocaine does. Furthermore, staring at screens increases dopamine levels, which is why children become suddenly happy when handed an electronic device and then immediately upset when the device is taken away. Dr. Peter Whybrow, director of neuroscience and human behavior at UCLA, calls these devices “electronic cocaine,” and researchers from China refer to them as “digital heroin.”
http://www.thetechedvocate.org/how-screens-turn-kids-into-digital-addicts/
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