5 reasons we need to help kids live “heads up” instead of “heads down”

I was recently at an accepted-students day at a local university with my daughter, and the president of the university spoke of how youth these days live a “heads down” life. We need them to be more “heads up,” he said. He is right. He is quite literally right that our youth are “heads down.” Our children and teens, like the rest of us, have their faces in their phones more often than not. We’ve grown used to it. Everywhere we go, kids are looking down at their phones and other devices. This could have real implications not just now, but for their future — because looking down all the time has some real downsides. There are five important ways living “heads down” is bad for our youth. 1.  Safety. This is the obvious one. Anyone who does any driving anywhere has seen someone lost in their phone walk out into traffic — or worse, drive with their attention on their phone. We look down as we walk along a hallway or sidewalk and collide into others doing the same, or into doors, or poles, or other hazards. The university my daughter and I were visiting is an urban one, adding a whole other layer of danger: being aware of one’s surroundings is hard when you are looking at your device. 2.  Health. Our devices tend to make us more sedentary. Too often, our kids are happy to curl up with their phones, their tablets, their computers, or their video games instead of being active. Kids should be active for an hour a day to be healthy, and devices get in the way ...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Adolescent health Parenting Source Type: blogs