An Evening with Dr. Leonard Sax

Allan Hardy, Principal
Earlier this month, we hosted an evening with Dr. Leonard Sax, which a number of Greenwood parents attended. I have highlighted the key points of Dr. Sax’s message for those of you unable to attend the presentation

For the most part, he emphasized the importance of active parenting and the need for parents to help their children limit their use of screens and related technology.
  • Since the mid-90’s, there are more female than male university graduates in Canada
  • Playing video games—which is primarily a male preoccupation—more than six hours per week has a negative and roughly linear effect on academic achievement
  • Video games reward distractibility; there is some research supporting the inability to concentrate in school with the frequency of video gaming
  • Girls are becoming significantly more anxious and reporting more problems sleeping
  • Girls post five times more photos on their Facebook page than boys do and generally are more active users of social media than boys
  • Girls are more likely than boys to feel that other teenagers are having more fun than they are
  • Dr. Sax believes that no child under the age of 13 needs a smartphone
  • Parents should not allow students to have mobile devices in their bedrooms after 9 p.m.
  • Studies show a positive correlation between positive mental health in teenagers and eating dinner as a family on a regular basis; this includes no mobile devices at the dinner table.
Allan Hardy
Principal
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