ADHD was Re: [Nolug] Cool wired house in Old Metairie

In a message dated 7/19/2004 8:57:17 PM Central Daylight Time,
dpuryear@usa.net writes:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Alex McKenzie" <alex@boxchain.com>
> To: <nolug@joeykelly.net>
> Sent: Monday, July 19, 2004 11:26 AM
> Subject: Re: [Nolug] Cool wired house in Old Metairie
>
> >>We've succeeded in keeping PC, TV, phone out, but then, they're
> >>not in 1st grade yet....
> >>
> >
> >Good for you, I'm convinced that the TV+PC are the leading cause of ADD
> >in kids. I think computers should be a part of education, but not early
> >education. IANAD.
>
> This brings up a good point about too much technology. I was listening to a
> news program (either WJBO or WRKF here in Baton Rouge) and they were
> discussing ADD and ADHD and its causes. There had been a study done that
> indicated a strong link between morning cartoons and an inability for
> children to pay attention in class. The thoughts were that morning cartoons
> tended to train young children to constantly change their focus and to
> become used to only needing short spans. Compare that with children
> reading a book or playing a sport, where they focus their attention for an
> extended amount of time.
>
> I haven't heard of a similar study on children and PCs. I actually think
> that PCs may be beneficial. In my experience most people using a PC do a
> single task for a long time (e.g., the Internet, homework) rather than
> constantly task-switching. Then again, who stays on the same website for
> more than a few minutes?

I probably have ADHD and if Ridelin would have been popular when I was a
child I'm sure they would have given it to me. I'm 32 now and I discovered
computers and the internet in 1994 while attending UNO. My first experiences were
in UNO's computer lab on the old VAX/VMS system. You had to be focused and
take your time because it was slow and it was all text. I also spent a lot of
time reading things that were of interest to me. I went through maybe one to
two books a week. I considered this quite an accomplishment for a poor kid from
Gentilly who dropped out of high school at 15 and earned a GED at 16. I do
believe that the vast amount of information that is available today and the
ways we are bombarded with it on a daily basis have shortened the attention span
of everyone. We have TV's in every room of the house, the car, phone's in
every room(even the bathroom), no one thinks to leave home without their cell
phone anymore, PDA's that are always connected, email on your phone, PDA, watch,
everybody wants you to install a little box on your desktop that will give you
the weather, stock quotes, breaking news, on the 24 hour news channel there
are tickers on the bottom of the screen, the top of the screen, text boxes next
to the talking head, ITS TOO MUCH INFORMATION!!! You can't focus on one
thing for more that a few seconds without something else distracting you.

Chris Johnston
 Realtor Consultant
 Keller Williams Realty
 4725 Veterans Blvd.
 Metairie, LA 70006
 504-455-0100 bus
 504-455-0322 fax
 504-416-1596 cell
chrisjohnston@kw.com
 http://agent.kw.com/chrisjohnston/
 Licensed Louisiana Realtor, Each Office Independently Owned and Operated

"The best job goes to the person who can get it done without
passing the buck or coming back with excuses."
--Napoleon Hill

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Received on 07/19/04