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Technology may have many advantages, however, as a marriage and family therapist, I am only seeing the disadvantages. Parents themselves are spending hours on EBay, reconnecting with high school friends on FaceBook, gaming—and sometimes even porn. People instant messaging (IM) or twittering as if they need their so-called 15 minutes of fame daily. Young children often ask me how to get their parents to pay attention to them. Schools are having to enact laws so that parents aren’t on cell phones in school zones endangering everyone. I keep getting ‘friended’ by friends on the social websites (which I refuse to join)—I wish they would just call me to talk or ask me to lunch.
How to Say No and Keep Your Friends, 2nd Ed.
A must back-to-school reading for your teen!
 Too Smart for Trouble
Helping grade K-4 children think on their own!
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And we then pass all of this technology onto our kids so they can "fit in.” I wonder if we’re actually doing the opposite. So many kids are losing face-to-face social interaction, handwriting and spelling are deteriorating and math cannot be computed without calculators. I see more kids than ever stressed as well as easily bored as they are constantly being stimulated by this technology and they don’t know how to have adequate down time.
The Dallas Morning News printed a viewpoint by Nandita Singh, a sophomore at Hebron High School, Carrollton, Texas, in which she said, "When I was younger, the word of my parents went without question. I ate my green vegetables, cleaned up after myself and followed their directions without a second thought. Now, as a 16-year-old, I find myself questioning all of their decisions because sometimes it feels like I just know better. I know how much sleep I need, I know what food I like and I know how I like my room organized. What’s even more interesting is that I can instantaneously share with my friends my frustrations and sense of superiority through simple tweets and status updates.” She wonders if teens, over-reliance on technology strips them of the ability to think for themselves and be guided by parents. Smart girl.
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A recent Kaiser Family Foundation study said that young people spend an average of 7.5 hours a day with TV, computers or music and another two hours texting and talking on cellphones.
Parents...please slow down this madness and give your children back their childhood.
Copyright © 2010, Sharon Scott. No reproduction without written permission from author.
P.S. Please see my other column, SmileNotes.
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Sharon Scott, LPC, LMFT, is an internationally recognized family counselor with a private practice in north Texas. She is considered the leading expert on peer pressure having trained more than one million people across the U.S. and in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, South Africa, Spain, Malaysia, the Philippines, Turkey, and Micronesia in her proven techniques. For information on bringing Sharon to your community or school to present one of her 29 dynamic workshops for children, teens, parents, or educators, please see her website www.SharonScott.com .
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The guide for parents/educators on how to peer-proof children and teens is 
Sharon also has a charming series of five books for elementary-age children each teaching an important living skill and "co-authored” with her savvy cocker spaniel Nicholas who makes the learning fun. Their book on managing elementary-age peer pressure is titled 