Closer – Cate Sutherland
“Achieving a balance between tech education and physical development is a constant challenge as your children grow. Susan bought her six-year-old son John an iPad because she wanted “to let him get a jump on things” at school where teachers encouraged use of the device for educational purposes, assuring her that John’s obsession with Minecraft was fine because it’s “just like Lego”. She tried to bat away her nagging concerns until John’s behaviour started to deteriorate – losing interest in baseball, refusing to do his chores and throwing tantrums when Susan tried to take the game away. She found him awake one night and so entranced by the game he appeared to be in a “catatonic stupor”. Susan’s story appeared in the New York Post over the weekend, as told by Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, along with his views on “How Screen Addiction Is Hijacking Our Kids”. The article and his book of the same name have since caused quite a stir on both sides of the pond, with some tech magazines printing their response to the debate.”(more)