A Cracked Foundation
How Virtual Parenting is Destroying Children
Fragmented, frazzled and far too busy, Today’s Families are struggling to survive.While family members are connected to technology’s virtual reality, they are also experiencing the Triple Disconnect from themselves, others and nature. Children use on average 6.5 hours per day of TV and videogames, with over 50% of children having TV’s in their bedrooms. Family dining room tables are being replaced by big screen TV’s, causing meaningful conversations between parent-child to drop to a mere 3.5 minutes per week. Family conflict and child aggression are on the rise, as the lure of technology ‘dumbs down’ and ‘numbs’ even the brightest of brains.The foundations for child development are finally cracking, resulting in attachment disorders and delays in physical and mental development that we are only just beginning to understand.Parent’s misperception that the world is unsafe, and children’s misperception that nature is unsafe, have markedly limited critical elements for child development. Child independence, Inner Drive and motivation to do anything non-techno is on the decline, while creativity and imaginative play disappear.Parents seem to have forgotten what it means to parent, and children have forgotten how to play.A Cracked Foundation offers fragmented families a much needed Repair Kit, which will help Virtual Parents learn how to pick up the pieces, discover why their family disconnects, and learn new ways to re-connect.
Workshop Goal – A Cracked Foundation raises awareness about the significant damage technology has caused to the family unit, and how Virtual Parents are unknowingly inflicting The Triple Disconnect on their children and partners, and offers helpful strategies to bring families back together.
Learning Outcomes
- Identify three critical factors for child development, and list five techniques to improve connection.
- Using provided Attachment Questionnaire, identify your own attachment status and list three relevant techniques to improve connection.
- Discover how to play again, and using the provided Things to Do When Not Watching TV and Inner Drive Directive, list five techniques to improve play and promote inner drive.
- Using the provided Zone-O-Meter, identify body energy zones, and apply relevant Zone’in tools and techniques to get students Zone’in to Connect.
Foundation Series Workshops are designed to be introductory level for therapists, intermediate for teachers and advanced for parents, child care workers and teaching assistants. Foundation Series Workshops course content includes the following AOTA Classification Codes for Continuing Education Activities: performance skills, areas of occupation, evaluation, intervention and outcomes.