The Internet’s growth has expanded exponentially in recent years, especially with the advent of social media websites. It can be an incredibly beneficial tool from many different standpoints, but on the same note, it can be a dangerous reality for many children. Of all the various inappropriate material on the web, there are specific types that break paternal controls most often.

Adult Content & ID Protection

Pornography has long been an online hazard for children, and although certain states have beefed up their pornographic content laws, their effectiveness has been almost non-existent. Thus, it’s important to be personally vigilent.

The other two top online dangers are social networks and illegal software downloads which can subsequently lead to other complications such as online identity theft. While it is certainly possible to use an identity protection service like Lifelock to monitor your information round the clock, the best preventative method is to actively ensure your children stays away from this type of material.

Monitor Your Child’s Online Activity

In many ways, the Internet is like an online public playground for children and adults. You wouldn’t leave your child unattended without supervision on a public playground.  The same vigilance applies to their online activity.  Be certain to periodically monitor what sites your child is visiting. What’s more, if the history on your browser is cleared, your child may be trying to hide something.

Set Your Parental Controls

Without parental controls put in place to block your kids from visiting pornographic or other inappropriate sites, they will be able to do so both intentionally and unintentionally. Either way, it is your job to make sure neither is possible via the parental controls on your computer. ABC-7 in Fort Myers, Florida, reports that guarding your children from chat rooms and even keeping their computer out where you can see it are effective measures for making sure your kids are protected.

Talk About Online Dangers

Speak to your child about the dangers of the Internet. With an age of new technology and widely accessible information also comes the need to inform your kids about the dangers of giving up too much of their private information online. The more information people know about your child, the more dangerous their online activity becomes.

Tech Goes Strong points out that some teens spend too much time on Facebook, and in that time are open to harassment by strangers trolling the web. Remind your kids to not accept friend requests from people they don’t know. This simple, but effective, rule of thumb will add a layer of security in your household.

Limit Online Usage

The truth is, too much online activity creates a very sedentary lifestyle for a child. Fifty years ago, children played outside significantly more. Instead, these days, kids do all of their playing virtually. Limit your child’s online time to an hour a day, or whatever you feel is necessary, but remember less time online promotes a healthy lifestyle both physically and mentally.

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Play Attention is available in either professional or home user formats. Play Attention is affordable and  typically costs less than $5 a day to use Play Attention in home.

The Play Attention professional system has unlimited user licenses. This means that the one Play Attention professional system will allow unlimited numbers of clients to use the system.

Play Attention’s home system comes with 2 users. Additional user licenses may be purchased for $50 each through the Play Attention support site.

Play Attention is distributed globally. To get a quote for your area, call 800.788.6786 in the US or 828.676.2240 if you’re outside the US.

Play Attention has payment plans for as little as $100 a month in the United States.

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Is it effective for ADHD students?

The December 2011 issue of the journal Learning and Individual Differences published research titled ADHD and academic attainment: Is there an advantage in impulsivity?

Dr. Peter Tymms,DurhamUniversity’s (http://www.dur.ac.uk/) leading education expert, analyzed test scores spanning more than 500 British schools and found that ADHD students who shouted out answers scored better than their quiet peers.

Scores were significantly better; louder ADHD students were about nine months ahead of quieter classmates in reading and math. Tymms says the findings raise questions about how best to teach youngsters with ADHD.

Prof Tymms said: “Children with ADHD symptoms who get excited and shout out answers in class seem to be cognitively engaged and, as a result, learn more.

“Perhaps those children also benefit from receiving additional feedback and attention from their teacher.”

For most teachers, having children shout out answers in a classroom setting is not practical; other children don’t have time to reflect and then think of an answer. Shouting often interrupts the thinking process. However, research tells us that ADHD children who shout out answers in class often learn quicker than their quieter schoolmates.

Is there a middle road? Perhaps setting a game format for review of classroom material in which it is fair to call out answers would assist ADHD children in learning quicker (think Jeopardy). At home, parents could allow their child to call out answers when doing homework.

This also raises the question whether we should teach ADHD children to be able to control their impulsiveness and to think before acting.

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Is it effective for ADHD students?

The December 2011 issue of the journal Learning and Individual Differences published research titled ADHD and academic attainment: Is there an advantage in impulsivity?

Dr. Peter Tymms,DurhamUniversity’s (http://www.dur.ac.uk/) leading education expert, analyzed test scores spanning more than 500 British schools and found that ADHD students who shouted out answers scored better than their quiet peers.

Scores were significantly better; louder ADHD students were about nine months ahead of quieter classmates in reading and math. Tymms says the findings raise questions about how best to teach youngsters with ADHD.

Prof Tymms said: “Children with ADHD symptoms who get excited and shout out answers in class seem to be cognitively engaged and, as a result, learn more.

“Perhaps those children also benefit from receiving additional feedback and attention from their teacher.”

For most teachers, having children shout out answers in a classroom setting is not practical; other children don’t have time to reflect and then think of an answer. Shouting often interrupts the thinking process. However, research tells us that ADHD children who shout out answers in class often learn quicker than their quieter schoolmates.

Is there a middle road? Perhaps setting a game format for review of classroom material in which it is fair to call out answers would assist ADHD children in learning quicker (think Jeopardy). At home, parents could allow their child to call out answers when doing homework.

This also raises the question whether we should teach ADHD children to be able to control their impulsiveness and to think before acting.

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Does a relationship really exist?

A study released this week by the journal Pediatrics reviewed research data from 1976 to date. Be advised, the conclusions from this study were not obtained from actual research done by the researchers, but were obtained from their critical review of previous published data regarding diet and ADHD.

The study’s authors, J. Gordon Millichap, a neurologist, and Michelle M. Yee, a nurse-practitioner are ADHD specialists at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. They reviewed articles from scientific journals relating to the use of diet and dietary supplements in treating ADHD. Their findings really aren’t new, but rather recap data known. They found:

• Sugar and aspartame really don’t show any relationship to ADHD symptoms.
• Fish oil might help with the cognitive and behavioral impairments associated with the disorder, but more research is needed as the data are not conclusive.
• Zinc and other mineral supplements like iron have shown to be helpful but still need more research.
• Some small subgroups show sensitivity to food preservatives and eliminating them may be helpful.
• Children who have food allergies should have the allergens removed.

As I wrote in a blog a while ago, scientists have shown a distinct relationship between ADHD and children who ate a Western diet high in saturated fat, refined sugars and sodium. Additionally, this diet commonly lacks omega-3 fatty acids, fiber and folate. It is unknown what relationship this has to poor attention and academic performance, but they commonly occur together.

The only certainty associated with this research is that we are uncertain about the relationship between diet and ADHD. Researching a relationship is difficult because of a placebo effect associated with dietary change.

However, this doesn’t mean that dietary change, regulating sugar intake, limiting fat and sodium intake, and restricting preservatives should be immediately tossed aside. It means that each child or adult must be reviewed individually and find what works for them personally.

Dietary changes are not costly. Personal dietary research just takes time and consistency. In other words, if it works for you after personally researching and testing it, then it works — use it.

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The good, the bad, and the ugly

New treatment guidelines were released this month by the American Academy of Pediatrics. These guidelines are issued to provide instructions for pediatricians on diagnosing and managing ADHD.

The good news is that the academy advises behavioral management techniques should be the first treatment approach for preschool-age children. The academy also recommends that pediatricians should evaluate childhood ADHD over four to six months in both the home and another environment, like school.

The British have adopted this approach, but have also taken it a step further to include cognitive training and parent training. Of course, Play Attention has been the leader in this type of training for over 16 years. Always way ahead of our time!

The bad is that the academy advises that ADHD can be diagnosed in children as young as age 4. This opens the gateway to giving Schedule II substances (class includes cocaine, amphetamines, etc.) like Ritalin to very young children.

The lead author of the academy’s new clinical practice guidelines is Dr. Mark Wolraich. Dr. Wolraich is professor of pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. He noted that ADHD in a preschool-age child was very different from the typically active behavior seen in most young children. Most ADHD children have poor social skills which makes it difficult to play with other children or to make friends. A child with ADHD is often prone to accidents (new research bears this out — see previous blogs) and is overactive much of the time.

“It’s not the environmental things like parties triggering it,” Dr. Wolraich said.

The ugly and controversial side of the new guidelines is that they suggest pediatricians consider prescribing Ritalin in preschool-age children with moderate to severe symptoms and when behavior interventions don’t provide significant improvement.

Ritalin and similar medicines aren’t approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use within the preschool-age years. Once drugs are FDA approved however, they are not typically regulated regarding how doctors prescribe them. Doctors often prescribe drugs for use ‘off label’.

While the academy advises that medication should be considered for preschool-age children only if they exhibit symptoms of ADHD for at least nine months and only after behavior management techniques have been tried, prescribing medication ‘off label’ is controversial; these drugs haven’t been tested on this age group and the risks are unknown.

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Are there really benefits?

Brain training seems to be all the rage. Proponents claim many benefits ranging from simple improved memory to fewer car accidents.

We know that the brain constantly changes. It rewires itself daily in response to our environments. That monumental task is called neuroplasticity. It’s a unique feature of the human brain that allows us to adapt and change permitting greater survival among our species.

The brain’s ability to change remains throughout our lifetimes. However, the brain is much like a muscle; it’s a use it or lose it proposition. This is especially true as we age.

The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (November 2010) reports of a study involving more than 900 active drivers with an average age of 73. Several universities were involved in the study. The researchers divided the drivers into four groups. Group 1 used a computer program designed to decrease their reaction times. Group 2 were taught strategies to improve reasoning and problem-solving. Group 3 got classroom training designed to improve memory, and Group 4, which served as the control group, received no training at all.

The researchers collected data on the drivers (state driving records) over the following six years. They found that drivers who received the computer or problem-solving training caused 50 percent fewer accidents during the six years compared with the control group. Those who went through memory training, however, showed no significant change.

This indicates that if one’s goal is to improve driving skills, then they must practice a task that is closely associated with the driving. It is safe to generalize this maxim to virtually any skill set.

Another study published in the December 2010 Archives of Internal Medicine is a one-year follow-up of 155 women ages 65 to 75 who participated in an earlier strength-training exercise program in 2007-2008. Those researchers found that strength training not only increased strength and bone density, but also improved focus.

The researchers randomly divided the female participants into once-weekly and twice-weekly workouts that used dumbbells, weight machines and free-form exercises to build muscle strength. The control group performed twice-weekly balancing and toning exercises, but performed no weight lifting exercises. At the end of the 12-month program, both the weight-training groups showed sharply improved mental focus. In the control group, mental function slightly declined.

Many other studies confirm what these researchers tell us: brain exercises can improve cognitive function and exercise helps maintain a healthy focused brain. We’ve been saying this for close to twenty years. Play Attention can be used to maintain a healthy brain throughout one’s life. It addresses a variety of cognitive skill sets which will keep growing as new games are created. This is well past cutting edge; it’s leading edge.

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Do they suffer injury more often?

Research reported in the September/October issue of Academic Pediatrics reveals that young ADHD adolescents face unintended injury at nearly twice the rate of their peers.

“Preventing injuries is probably not the primary reason to treat ADHD, but it is one of many positive consequences that should emerge if ADHD is properly treated,” first author David C. Schwebel, PhD, professor and vice chair, Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, told Medscape Medical News (http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/750259). “Both psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy have evidence of efficacy,” he added.

Dr. Schwebel and colleagues found a significant association between ADHD symptoms and an increased risk for injury. In an ethnically diverse group of children with a median age of 11 years, Schwebel and his colleagues found that fourteen percent of study participants suffered 1 or more injuries requiring medical attention in the previous year. The most common injuries were broken bones (52%), joint injuries/sprains/strains (15%), and cuts/bruises (15%). The risk of injury increased with the increase of ADHD symptoms. Boys also presented higher risk of injury than girls.

Dr. Schwebel’s results resonate and make sense to parents of ADHD children. These children often have impulse control problems. Inattention to their environment is common which can result in greater chance of injury as well.

Dr. Schwebel said in addition to treatment of ADHD, “if clinicians have time and resources to focus especially on injury prevention in children with ADHD, considering ways to help children recognize potentially dangerous situations, perhaps through cognitive techniques, might be helpful to reduce injury risk.”

“Recognition of danger and invocation of executive function/self-inhibition skills might be helpful to children with ADHD if clinicians can successfully train or hone such skills,” Dr. Schwebel added.

Using Play Attention to help decrease inattention and control impulsivity is a great start. Our Motor Skills module teaches mind/body coordination to help reduce injury. We’re in development of a specific Play Attention game that will help teach valuable skills to identify dangerous situations. It will be available in the near future.

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Is there a connection?

Teachers, parents, and ADHD exeprts almost expect to have a compounding issue along with an ADHD diagnosis. Reading disabilities, behavioral difficulties, dyslexia, etc. are very common among ADHD children.

A study in the September, 2011 issue of Pediatrics confirms this; ADHD children have a much higher risk of developing a written language disorder and especially a reading disability. Reading disabilites account for nearly 80% of all learning disabilities associated with an ADHD diagnosis.

To be specific, a written language disorder is an impaired ability to express oneself through the written word. Difficulties in organizing one’s thoughts, memory, distraction, and even poor motor skills contribute to written language disorders.

The study was performed by the Mayo Clinic’s department of health sciences research in Rochester, Minnesota. Co-author, Dr. Slavica K. Katusic, associate professor of epidemiology and pediatrics says,”So…the uniqueness of this study, [is] because this is population-based.And what we found is that, regardless of gender, there is a dramatic difference in the risk of written-language disorder. ADHD kids are at a five times greater risk for having writing problems compared to all others who do not have ADHD.”

To form their conclusions, the researchers performed meta-analysis of 5,718 children born between 1976 and 1982 in Rochester, Minnesota. The majority of the children were middle-class whites. All were tracked from birth until roughly the age of 19.

If the child had a reading diability, the risk of devloping a writing disorder vastly increased.

“When someone suspects that a child has ADHD, people are so impressed with concerns over dyslexia that they sometimes kind of forget about problems with writing. So, this should bring some needed attention to the need for equal testing and equal help for kids who also have writing problems,” warned Katusic.

Katusic’s research echoes previous research. ADHD is actually an impairment of a variety of skills. These skills are often fundamental to reading and writing. Remember that Play Attention teaches motor skills, auditory processing, memory and more.

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