Addiction

I feel a lot of sympathy for kids nowadays. How many kids do we all know that suffer from anxiety? Is it because of new methods of bullying on social media, or is it because we're all so plugged in all the time we're just too overstimulated? I feel as an adult I have more tools and experience to deal with all this, but I see kids struggle. I heard on CBC radio last week that any screen time for a child less than 2 years old can cause developmental delays and problems with attention span and concentration. 

I personally feel it's really important to unplug on a daily basis. Not just when I'm doing kung fu, but reading a book, meditating and cooking. I try make sure to set my phone aside most of the time I'm at home so that I can live here, in the moment, without all of the constant distractions. I read that every time you 'clean up' your email inbox your brain releases serotonin as if you've accomplished an important task, and it's very easy to get addicted to those feelings of accomplishment and I find this to be true. So I practice leaving emails unread and take pride in leaving tasks unfinished once in a while. Yep, that sounds weird, even to me.  

But there are also great benefits to having access to "the net". There are more resources when you are dealing with a bullying situation. We have more information in regards to our health. And it's easy to keep in touch with long distance friends, or even make new friends with similar interests. It's just difficult sometimes to find the balance that we need between access at our fingertips, and the choice to unplug.