This got moderately long for a blog post, and I made it into a series.
Economic moderation – for the industrious read this first – about Financialization of the modern world: “Yeah, It’s Still Water,”- we can’t eat stock bubbles or money, or concrete. None of those things are part of a healthy ecosystem. Economic and environmental stress can increase health risks and possibly risk of addictions or anger and violence. More equality could be healthier for everyone and the economy.
Summary –
Community centers might help reduce addictions and improve health by giving people more to do and more to do in company with others. They could provide a place for children to have more positive role models in their lives. Child trauma can make addictions or other problems more of a risk as adults, having a positive connection in their life can help increase their likelihood of developing resilience and better coping skills.
Social connection can help the environment too if education and gardening or other projects are done with a group. It would also give people something to do away from electronic devices which may increase risk of addictive behavior and has EMF exposure which may increase health risks. Education about life skills or environment or health or whatever else interested the community could be included in a center’s activities. Fertility of the environment and for individual health prior to conception is the focus of a plan I wrote previously: Pre-conception Education Centers project proposal.
EMFs and WHO recommendations for Screen time for children
Questioning how we do things is how we reach better ways to do things, whether less work, or more health, change is often about adapting to new ways of life. More women working outside of homes meant easier ways to prepare meals or clean house were needed to help keep the home life going with fewer hours available for chores or childcare. Using the television as a babysitter was a concern as TVs became a common fixture in every living room, and gradually in every room of the house, and now with smartphones and tablets we can have TV with us at all times practically.
How much screen time is too much? Digital addiction has been added to the DSM-V psychiatric diagnosis manual. When it starts interfering with regular life is a typical division between fun hobby and addictive behavior. The type of video, the speed of the images and flashing lights, may be more important than a question of how much screen time is too much. For children younger than ten more screen time with fast moving images has been associated with risk of ADHD. Changes in the brain are similar to those seen in cocaine addiction and involve increased dopamine levels. (2)
Now parents and children need to also be aware of negative influences from television or computer personalities as well as the physical risks of electromagnetic fields (EMF) in addition to the addictive risks of the fast moving images or action.
My father was aware of the risk of EMF and a TV viewing rule was to stay at least four to six feet away from the television and another was about limiting the number of hours we watched. We each could pick one show a day, and watch the shows the other siblings chose making a total of about two hours of TV time per day. Modern health recommendations are in agreement – no screen time for under two year old children, one hour for two-four year old children, and limit screen time for older children to only a few hours per day. (WHO’s Guidelines for Screen Time for Children, 1)
Moderation series to continue with early childhood experiences and their potential effects on addiction risk.
Additional Resources regarding finance & the environment:
Climate change is real – according to financial advising company Morgan Stanley and myths about what is involved may be inhibiting investment in climate change solutions are debunked: Six Climate Investing Myths Debunked. We need investment in sustainable businesses and planned adaptations for expected environmental changes.
What might not be as good an investment in the environment is the financialization of ecosystem protections – pay us to protect some endangered species’ habitat and we will skim off part of the money as profit. Watch the documentary for free: Banking Nature, OffGuardian.
Disclaimer: This information is provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of Fair Use. It is not intended to provide individual guidance. Please seek a health care provider for individualized health care guidance.
Reference List
- Amanda Tarlton, World Health Organization Releases New Screen Guidelines For Babies and Toddlers. April 25 2019, fatherly.com https://www.fatherly.com/news/world-health-organization-releases-new-screen-time-guidelines-kids/
- Erik Vance, What Screen Addictions and Drug Addictions Have in Common. Oct. 23, 2018 (pbs.org) https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/screen-time-addiction/
- Ben Hunt, Yeah, It’s Still Water, Oct 25, 2019 EpsilonTheory.com, https://www.epsilontheory.com/yeah-its-still-water/#.XcQp5nkjldY.twitter
- Six Climate Investing Myths Debunked. Sept. 18, 2019, MorganStanley.com https://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/six-climate-investing-myths-debunked
- Banking Nature, Nov. 4, 2019, Off-Guardian.org. https://off-guardian.org/2019/11/04/watch-banking-nature/