2012 Higher Love Archives - WebTalkRadio.net

Part One: Guest Interview

Gloria, founder of The Parent Coaching Institute (PCI) and author of Parenting Well in a Media Age, talks with Dr. Craig Anderson, Distinguished Professor and Director of the Center for the Study of Violence at Iowa State University. Dr. Anderson joined the Iowa State University faculty in 1999, as Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology. In 2004, he was presented with the “Iowa State University Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research.” In 2005, he was awarded the title “Distinguished Professor,” the highest faculty honor given by Iowa State University. Dr. Anderson is considered a leading scholar on aggression, violent personality and media violence. His seminal research on media violence, violent video games and aggression has made a major impact on public policy at local, state, national and international levels. He is the author or co-author of several books and numerous research publications. For a complete list and important resources please see Dr. Anderson’s bio here.

The depictions of graphic, sensational violence keeps escalating on TV, in movies, and in popular video games while scientific evidence demonstrates that screen violence harms kids. In fact, there is clearly undeniable evidence that media violence contributes to aggression and desensitization. Yet, confusion and ambivalence still reign—preventing us as individuals and collectively, from taking effective actions.

Violent video games remain popular choices for children and teens. Dr. Anderson’s research regarding violent video games shows consistent findings worldwide:

“We can now say with utmost confidence that regardless of research method—that is experimental, correlational, or longitudinal—and regardless of the cultures tested in this study [East and West], you get the same effects. And the effects are that exposure to violent video games increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior in both short-term and long-term contexts. Such exposure also increases aggressive thinking and aggressive affect, and decreases pro-social behavior.” Craig Anderson

In this podcast, Dr. Anderson lays out the evidence that the debate is over. “From a public policy standpoint, it’s time to get off the question of, ‘Are there real and serious effects?’ That’s been answered and answered repeatedly,” Anderson said. “It’s now time to move on to a more constructive question like, ‘How do we make it easier for parents—within the limits of culture, society and law—to provide a healthier childhood for their kids?’”

Here parents will find practical ideas for protecting kids form the harmful effects of media violence, along with ways to use media to teach pro-social values. Tune in for a wealth of information from a leading scholar in the field!

Parent Two: The Parent Coaching Corner

The Parent Coaching Corner will resume with the January 13, 2014 podcast.

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Part One Guest Interview:

Gloria DeGaetano, founder The Parent Coaching Institute, talks with Dr. Jane Healy, expert in media and children and award winning author of several books including the international best seller, Your Child’s Growing Mind, about why experts do not recommend screen entertainment or screen education for babies and young children.

What can happen to the brains of young children with too much exposure to screen technologies? The answer isn’t pretty. In this conversation, Dr. Jane Healy, who was twice named “Educator of the Year” by Delta Kappa Gamma shares important new brain research that supports with certainty the claim: Early exposure to screens puts youngsters at risk for all sorts of learning problems and disadvantages such as hyperactivity, aggression, and attention porblems. Early exposure also reduces a child’s ability to be empathetic to others. Dr.Healy has decades of experience helping parents with media issues. Her book, Endangered Minds, is a classic in the field. Dr. Healy explains the negative effects of early exposure to screen technologies in clear terms, while offering parents many practical ideas for supporting optimal brain development.

This podcast sheds important light on the dark places of confusion for many young parents, given they are bombarded with new digital products aimed at youngsters at every turn—first the I-Potty and now Fischer-Price has come out this holiday season with its horrendous Newborn-to-Toddler Apptivity Seat foriPad® Device which provides a way to lock an i-pad in place so baby has its constant display in his/her visual field. This is so dangerous for young brains. Why?

Because young brains are easily conditioned. That’s the key concept Jane and Gloria would like parents to understand and take to heart when listening to this podcast. There is never a more crucial time for brain development than in the first few years of life. This podcast reminds parents of young children of the fragility of the young brain and gives parents solid, scientific reasons to limit screens as much as possible for babies and toddlers. That’s the best way to give them the best chance for optimal brain growth now and in their future.

Parent Two: The Parent Coaching Corner

The Parent Coaching Corner will resume with the January 13, 2014 podcast.

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Part One: Guest Interview

Did you know that one in eleven teens is hooked on video games to the point of obsession? That means they will spend most of their waking hours immersed in a game, even when there is no external reward—no one praises them for playing. No one gives them a recognition medal—a common practice now with most kids’ sports participation. No one delivers a pizza to their door each time they successfully get to the next level. Yet, without any of these typical types of external rewards, they keep playing. Often oblivious to their surroundings, they may regularly skip meals, living off snacks and energy drinks to ward off sleep in order to keep playing. What is it about a video game that compels this kind of investment of time and energy? Is it just for the “fun?”

Gloria, co-author of the popular book, Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action Against TV, Movie, and Video Game Violence, is as passionate about this issue as Dr. Doan is. Consequently, this discussion is quite lively as they both get fired up to help parents understand not only how to pro-actively address the video game habit with their children, but also what moms and dads can do to prevent it from becoming an obsession in their children’s lives.

Part Two: The Parent Coaching Corner

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Part One: Guest Interview

Gloria, founder of The Parent Coaching Institute (PCI) and author of Parenting Well in a Media Age, talks with PCI Coach Chris Donavan. Chris is the mother of eight, including step children and children with special needs. She offers varied and important perspectives as both a mom and a professional parent coach. Her website www.ChristineCoach.com offers valuable resources for parents of children of all ages.

This podcast focuses on teens and technology. Let’s put our kids back in control. Yes! It can be done even though teens are voracious screen users. 95% of teens use the Internet, 78% have cell phones, and teens actually have as many tablet devices as adults. But teens are not adults. Their brains are still in process. As a matter of fact, it takes until ages 24-25, until the human brain is fully mature.

Because teenagers don’t have fully equipped brains, it makes them especially vulnerable to the addictive quality of screens. But once parents realize this, there many brain-compatible techniques they can use to put teens back in control. The keys are supporting our kids’ sense of autonomy and competence—so they grow a healthy self-identity, not an identity dependent upon digital devices.

Chris shares ways we “can get inside the head” of our teens, along with pro-active ways to make rules and keep them simple, with a positive focus. If you are pulling out your hair trying to figure out what to do about your teen and technology, this podcast will help you return to sanity with do-able researched-based parenting solutions.

Part Two: The Parent Coaching Corner

There is no coaching session in this podcast. Tune into the previous podcasts to catch up with Lindsey!

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Part One: Guest Interview

Gloria, founder of The Parent Coaching Institute (PCI) and author of Parenting Well in a Media Age, talks with PCI Certified Parent Coach® Lauren Leiker. Lauren coaches moms, dads, and couples through her parent coaching business, ParentingAware. Lauren is also a part-time parent education instructor at North Seattle Community College. As the mother of two children ages, 13 and 10, Lauren brings both practical wisdom and much expertise as an educator to the parents she coaches.

What gifts are on your list this season? Are the gifts you want for your children the gifts they want for themselves? Or are they nagging you for the latest gadget that you don’t want to get? We are in a tsunami of technology, that’s for sure. But just because the floodgates have opened, doesn’t mean we have to succumb to every ploy to purchase the most popular device for our children. Let’s face it, marketers aren’t out for their best interests.

In this podcast, Lauren and I talk about what might be lost forever when devices replace the important gifts. And what are these most important gifts? We frame our discussion around the gifts of our Time, Connection, and Presence. Parental presence trumps all other presents, of course.

Part Two: The Parent Coaching Corner

I am coaching Lindsey, mom of two daughters, Charlie, age 5.5 and Olive, age, 2.5. Lindsey is working to provide a balanced approach to screen technologies for her girls.

The last time we talked Lindsey was excited about all the family fun around the dinner table. Like teaching the girls how to balance spoons on their noses. It has been two weeks since our last coaching session because her girls were ill.

In this session we resume discussing her Action Plan for laying a strong foundation for her daughters’ media/digital literacy. All the pieces are coming together very well! Tune in to hear all that is falling into place for Lindsey and the amazing synchronicities that have occurred—something we have come to expect during the design Phase of PCI Coaching!

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Gloria, founder of The Parent Coaching Institute (PCI) and author of Parenting Well in a Media Age, talks with PCI Certified Parent Coach® Peggy Rubens-Ellis. Peggy, school counselor and founder of the blog Creative Crossings, http://creativecrossings.blogspot.com is an expert on issues relevant to pre-teen girls and boys, especially in regard to bullying and relational aggression. She has worked in anti-bullying programs and creating safe school environments. Peggy is currently developing workshops for preschool parents on Managing Screen Technology and also on Helping Your Child Handle Tough Friendship Situations. Peggy lives on a small island in the Pacific Northwest, but coaches parents from all over the world.

Peggy’s newly found passion that has emerged from her schooling as a PCI parent coach is helping parents of preschoolers manage screen technology. In this podcast she and Gloria discuss the pressing need and how Peggy helps parents in this area. She also shares some tricks of the trade she has been exploring with her own four year-old, daughter.

This podcast focuses on what parents can do to be gentle with themselves if they find themselves feeling guilty for allowing too much screen time for their youngsters. Peggy shares her own battles with digital devices and how sometimes her daughter does win—especially when Peggy is overwhelmed and exhausted. Like most of us at those times, Peggy finds it easy to cave in to her child’s nagging for her cell phone. In a candid, honest interview, Peggy puts aside her expert role as counselor and parent coach to show the human side of being a mother in the digital age. How she copes with guilt. How she uses the small things she does right to propel her to keep doing them.

Tune in to hear her excellent analogy of the NEON SIGN over her head that flashes: Good Mom/Bad Mom depending…

Every parent will relate to Peggy’s digital dilemmas and benefit from what she does about them!

Part Two: The Parent Coaching Corner

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Part One: Guest Interview

Gloria, founder of The Parent Coaching Institute (PCI) and author of Parenting Well in a Media Age, talks with PCI Certified Parent Coach® Jane Schmidt. Jane, founder of Parent Coaching Northwest, LLC in Seattle, is the mother of 9-year-old twin daughters. Like all PCI Coaches, she recognizes that the cumulative daily decisions parents make matter immeasurably to children’s optimal development. A principle focus and passion of Jane’s coaching practice is helping parents manage screen technologies. She helps parents balance their children’s undeniable fascination with media and technology with their understandable concerns. As part of her coaching practice, Jane offers workshops (e.g., Kids and Gadgets) specifically designed to help parents navigate technology and help their children live with, not for, technology. Ultimately, Jane’s parent coaching is about helping parents have the relationships they want with their children—that is the heart of Jane’s work.

“My spouse and I need to agree on the amount of screen time our children are allowed, and I’m not sure how to approach the subject or what we should decide.”

Agreeing on screen time and limits can be real challenge for many parents. But it doesn’t have to be. When spouses disagree about screen time and screen use, the kids are caught in the middle with more confusion and less clarity—which usually create an on-going cycle of struggle—between parents and between parent and child. A unified front, on the other hand, grows children as capable and wise users of screen technologies–with less conflict and more ease.

In this podcast, parents find great examples and strategies for how to work together as a unified front. The approaches shared are simple, positive and highly effective.

The goal in this discussion is to help moms and dads realize this important point:

When you change or take even a few steps towards agreeing with your partner on this topic, you’ll see powerful, positive results that benefit the entire family.

Tune in for effective ways to work together as team regarding tech issues in your household!

Part Two: The Parent Coaching Corner

I am coaching Lindsey, mom of two daughters, Charlie, age 5.5 and Olive, age, 2.5. Lindsey is working to provide a balanced approach to screen technologies for her girls.

Lindsey is in the midst of her Action Plan and she is coming up with excellent activities for helping the girls develop a strong foundation for digital literacy. Today we discuss how her daughters’ unexpected illness caught them all off guard. Lindsey was able to make the days not only restful for them, but productive learning experiences as well. This mom’s creativity is in high gear. Tune in to be inspired!

Listen to the previous six podcasts to catch up with Lindsey!

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Part One: Guest Interview

Gloria, founder of The Parent Coaching Institute (PCI) and author of Parenting Well in a Media Age, talks with PCI Certified Parent Coach®, Karen Bierdeman. Karen who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, has been a PCI Certified Parent Coach® since 2005. In addition to parenting her two girls, she has taught both special education, first grade, as well as at the community college. And, she has been a PCI instructor for seven years. In her coaching practice, The Guilt Free Mom Karen helps moms who are stressed, overwhelmed, and feel guilty with trying to parent intense, strong-willed children. Over the years, she has helped many parents to bring out the best in themselves and their children, even amidst the challenges that come with parenting an intense child. She knows from coaching parents and being a parent herself, that setting limits around using technology with strong-willed kids can be difficult. However, she also knows that it is possible to do so, even when it’s not easy.

In this podcast Karen and Gloria discuss that setting screen limits is hard enough. With a child who is prone to rebel against boundaries, is more likely to experience intense emotions, and challenges much of what you say and do, it can be even more stressful.

Tune in and listen for answers to these critically important questions:ow can we reduce that stress and support ourselves when setting limits around using technology with strong-willed kids?

• How can we set successful limits with them, when limits are not what they want?

Karen shares specific, practical ideas, with an emphasis on:

• taking care of yourself first

Part Two: The Parent Coaching Corner

I am coaching Lindsey, mom of two daughters, Charlie, age 5.5 and Olive, age, 2.5. Lindsey is working to provide a balanced approach to screen technologies for her girls.

Lindsey is in the midst of her Action Plan and she is coming up with excellent activities for helping the girls develop a strong foundation for digital literacy. She is very intentional about providing activities that support their reading/writing and overall creativity which are the starting points for self-identity as a learner.

Tune in to hear what great ideas she came up with this week. Listen to the previous five podcasts to catch up with Lindsey!

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Part One: Guest Interview

Gloria, founder of The Parent Coaching Institute (PCI) and author of Parenting Well in a Media Age, talks with PCI Certified Parent Coach® Sheryl Stoller. Sheryl coaches parents through her company, Stoller Parent Coaching, based in the Chicago area. Sheryl, the mother of three grown children, has addressed media issues in her family and now as a PCI Certified Parent Coach® she enjoys helping her coaching clients with these issues, as well. Sheryl was featured on NBC 5 Chicago weekend morning news to discuss the importance of media/digital family literacy. It is a subject she feels passionate about!

In this podcast covers important keys to ensuring that technology use in your family is used as a powerful tool to enhance life, not undermine relationships or limit the thriving growth and development of your children.

Some of the topics addressed:

Part Two: The Parent Coaching Corner

I am coaching Lindsey, mom of two daughters, Charlie, age 5.5 and Olive, age, 2.5. Lindsey is working to provide a balanced approach to screen technologies for her daughters.

Tune into the last four podcasts to catch up with Lindsey!

Thank you for listening!

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Gloria, founder of The Parent Coaching Institute (PCI) and author of Parenting Well in a Media Age, talks with PCI Certified Parent Coach® Priscila Fuzikawa who joins the conversation from her home in Brazil. In addition to working as a PCI Coach with individuals and groups through her company Gruponest, Priscila is a Brazilian occupational therapist, working in the field of mental health with trauma patients. A creative professional, Priscila also coaches musicians for performance enhancement. She is a mother of two children, ages 6 and 9. And in her typical candid honesty, Priscila admits that the parenting difficulties she faced with her own children led her to parenting workshops and finally to Parent Coach Certification® training with PCI. Now as a PCI coach, mother, and OT, her mission is to make the world a better place through better parenting.

This podcasts taps into Priscila’s unique creativity with her own kids in coming up with non-screen activities that resulted from their on-screen activities. Media images and digital devices can be used to spur meaningful and creative 3-D experiences for children and teens. How many times do we see our youngsters imitate a cartoon character in their imaginative play experience? What if we helped them add new ideas—such as a different name, occupation, or new clothes to an already beloved hero? Our kids do not have to suffer the constraints of an imitative imagination. Instead we can help them use their generative imaginations, using what they see on the screen to motivate them to be even more creative!

And that’s what Priscila did. The idea came to her when she saw her two children playing chase in slow motion and saying they were running like some TV character. Then they were trying to build something out of Legos® related to a video game, and were drawing new characters for it also. Instead of worrying that this might limit their creativity, Priscila invited her children to dig deeper into their creativity and encouraged the paper cut out of characters from the Minecraft games. This led to more play outside of the video game—real world play that the children enjoyed just as well—or often more so—than the video game. Priscila had come up with an exciting way to motivate her children and propose other creative activities—in the real world.

In this podcast she shares excellent ideas centered around these four basic points:

2) Ways to redirect our children’s interests away from screen instead of confronting them head on.

3) Our participation is essential to help introduce new ideas and expand on those that come spontaneously from children.

4) It is important for parents to be aware that screen technology is not the only source of imagination and play for their children, as this can easily lead to consumerism. It is important for kids to have real life role models.

Tune in and start today to use some of these creative ideas with your children—it’s fun, doesn’t cost anything, and put them in the driver’s seat to be more fully in charge of their video game play!

Part Two: The Parent Coaching Corner

I am coaching Lindsey, mom of two daughters, Charlie, age 5.5 and Olive, age, 2.5. Lindsey is coming to coaching for three basic reasons:

• She wants to provide more activities for the girls outside of screen technologies.

In our last session, Lindsey explained the strengths of each of her daughters, along with her own strengths. In this, our third session, we continue to talk about strengths and discover more resources Lindsey has in her life to support her. We then discuss the ideal picture of what her girls’ present and future screen use would look like, if she could have it any way she wanted in her preferred reality.

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