緣起：來自美國的資深華德福主課、體育課老師WHITNEY MACDONALD近期來到花婆婆學園教學指導，關於孩子對當今時代數碼產品的使用是我們眾多討論議題中的一個，他有非常多的相關觀察經驗，特別是對上癮（ 視頻）症孩子方面的感觸頗深，當天晚上WHITNEY老師特地將此連結發郵件給我；學園的朝霞老師利用閒暇時間將此文翻譯出來，希望如此有力量的文章能傳播給更多的家長朋友看到，意識到。
在兒子約翰六歲一年級的時候，蘇珊給他買了一個iPad。「當時我想，為什麼不買來讓他試試呢。」在給兒子治療期間，蘇珊這樣說道。約翰的學校已經開始給越來越低年級的孩子配備iPad之類的電子設備，而且他的技術課老師也對電子產品的教學益處讚不絕口。所以蘇珊想在教育上為這個喜愛閱讀與打棒球的棕色頭髮孩子做更多事情。
她開始讓約翰在iPad上玩不同的教學遊戲。最終，約翰發現了Minecraft這款遊戲。約翰的技術課老師向她保證，這個遊戲就像電子版的樂高玩具。回想起自己小時候堆砌拼裝塑料組裝積木時獲得的無窮樂趣，蘇珊也就讓兒子整個整個下午去玩Minecraft。
起初，蘇珊還很高興。當約翰探索充滿立方體的遊戲世界時，他似乎在從事創造性的玩耍。蘇珊也注意到，這個遊戲和她記憶中的樂高並不一樣。在樂高遊戲中，她不需要殺死動物並找到稀有礦物才能生存並晉級。但約翰似乎真的很喜歡玩，學校甚至還有一個Minecraft俱樂部，所以它能有多糟糕呢？
當然，蘇珊不能否認她看到了約翰身上的一些變化。他越來越將精力集中在遊戲上，對棒球和閱讀開始失去興趣，並拒絕做家務。有時候早上醒來，他會告訴媽媽在夢中看到了遊戲中的立方體。
雖然她對此有些擔憂，但她想這可能只是兒子想像力的積極表現。隨著兒子行為的持續惡化，她試圖把遊戲拿走，但約翰大發脾氣。他的爆發是如此嚴重，讓她只能放棄，並一遍一遍告訴自己要理性，「這是教育」。
一天晚上，她突然意識到哪裡肯定出了問題。
「我走進房間去看他。這個時候他應該睡覺了。我當時很害怕……」
她發現他坐在他的床上，瞪大著眼睛，那布滿血絲的雙眼盯著遠方，發光的iPad躺在他身邊。他看起來精神恍惚。蘇珊驚慌失措，不停搖晃他，想把他從恍惚狀態中拉出來。她悲痛欲絕，不明白為什麼一個曾經健康快樂的小男孩已經變得如此沉迷於遊戲，以至於患上緊張性木僵。
對技術持最謹慎態度的父母往往是技術設計師和工程師，這其中是有原因的。史蒂夫·賈伯斯是位有名的提倡低技術的家長。 矽谷高科技公司的高管和工程師們會把孩子送入沒有高科技的華德福學校，Google的創辦人Sergey Brin和Larry Page，以及amazon創始人Jeff Bezos和Wikipedia創始人Jimmy Wales，則把孩子送入沒有科技的蒙特梭利學校。
許多家長直覺地認識到，無處不在的發光屏幕對孩子有負面影響。當電子設備被拿走時，我們看到了孩子們具有侵略性的怒氣。當孩子不能一直接受電子設備的亢奮刺激時，他們就開始神遊。更糟的是，我們看到，當沒用電子產品的時候，孩子們會變得無聊，冷漠，無趣和不感興趣。
事實比我們想像的更糟糕。
我們現在知道那些iPad、智慧型手機和Xbox遊戲機是一種電子毒品。最近的腦部成像研究顯示，它們和古柯鹼的作用方式一樣，會影響大腦額葉皮層，而大腦額葉皮層控制著大腦的執行功能，包括衝動控制。科技是如此的令人興奮，它提高了多巴胺水平。多巴胺是一種讓人感覺良好的神經遞質，在很多上癮的條件下都會刺激它的分泌，例如性生活。
這令人上癮的效果就是加州大學洛杉磯( 專題)分校神經科學主任Peter Whybrow博士把電子屏幕稱為「電子古柯鹼」的原因，中國的研究人員則稱為「數字海洛因」。事實上，為五角大樓和美國海軍研究成癮問題的負責人Andrew Doan博士一直在研究「視頻遊戲成癮」，他把視頻遊戲和電子屏幕技術稱為「數字巫術」（希臘語pharmakeia）。
就是這樣。孩子在玩Minecraft時的大腦，就像吸毒一樣。難怪我們很難把孩子從屏幕前拉開，並會發現當小傢伙們看屏幕被打斷時，他們會非常躁動。此外，數以百記的臨床研究表明，屏幕會增加抑鬱、焦慮和攻擊，當玩遊戲的人與現實失去連接的時候，甚至可以導致類似精神病的症狀。
過去15年對1000名青少年診治的臨床經驗告訴我，在技術成癮問題上，「一盎司預防等於一磅治療」的格言尤為正確。當一個孩子進入了技術成癮的狀態後，治療就會變得非常困難。事實上，相比迷失在視頻遊戲或 Facebook社交媒體依賴成癮，我發現治療海洛因和冰毒成癮要更容易。
根據美國兒科學會的2013年政策聲明，8至10歲的孩子每天花8小時使用各種數字媒體，而青少年則在屏幕前呆11個小時。三分之一的孩子在學會說話前，就開始使用平板電腦或智慧型手機。同時，KimberlyYoung博士的《網絡成癮手冊》指出，美國18%的大學年紀的上網用戶患有技術成癮。
一個人一旦對某樣東西完全成癮，例如毒品、電子或其他別的東西，在其他任何一種療法可能生效之前，他需要先去戒毒。拿電子成癮來說，意味著完全的電子隔離，沒有電腦，沒有手機，沒有平板電腦。極端的數字隔離甚至會消除電視。治療的時間大概是四到六個星期，這是一個過度興奮的神經系統來重置自己通常所需的時間。但在我們這個充滿科技、屏幕無處的社會裡，完全隔離不是件容易的事情。一個人的生活可以沒有毒品或酒精，但對於技術成癮，數字誘惑卻無處不在。
所以如何才能讓我們的孩子不越界呢？談何容易。
關鍵的一步在於阻止4，5，8歲年齡段的孩子不被屏幕鉤住。這就意味著要用樂高替代Minecraft，書籍替代iPads，自然和運動替代電視。在必要的時候，甚至要求學校在孩子10歲前（有的說在12歲前），不能給他們平板電腦和電子書。
和孩子誠實地交流，告訴他們，為什麼你要限制他們使用電子產品。和賈伯斯所做一樣，同孩子共進晚餐時，不要在餐桌上放任何電子設備。不要讓孩子成為「分心父母綜合症」的犧牲品，正如我們從社會學習理論中所知道的那樣，孩子會「有樣學樣」。
當我和我的9歲雙胞胎兒子交流時，我如實告訴他們為什麼不給他們買平板電腦，不讓他們玩視頻遊戲。我向他們解釋，有些孩子很喜歡玩他們的電子設備，以至於他們很難停止或控制自己玩多少。我讓他們明白，如果他們像他們的一些朋友一樣沉迷於屏幕和Minecraft，他們生活的其他部分就可能遭罪：他們可能不想打棒球，不常看書，對科學和自然項目提不起興趣，和現實世界的朋友越來越脫離。令人驚訝的是，不需要太多的理由去說服他們，因為他們親眼目睹了他們的一些小朋友因為過度的屏幕時間所經歷的變化。
發展心理學家了解到，兒童的健康發展包括社會交往、充滿創造想像力的遊戲以及與真實的自然世界相接觸。不幸的是，虛擬的和令人上癮的屏幕世界影響和阻礙了這些發展過程。
我們還知道，當孩子感到孤獨、異化、無目的、無聊的時候，他們更容易逃到讓他們成癮的世界裡。因此，解決方法往往是幫助孩子們連接到有意義的現實生活經驗和真實的血肉關係中。與創造性活動及家庭生活連結緊密的孩子是不太可能逃入數字虛幻世界的。然而，即使是得到最好的愛和支持的孩子，一旦他們體驗了催眠的屏幕及其成癮效應，他們也可能墮入虛擬世界。畢竟，有10%的人有上癮傾向。
最後，我的案主蘇珊拿走了約翰的平板電腦，但是恢復的路程還很漫長，很坎坷。
四年後，經過大量的支持和加強治療，約翰現在的狀態比以前好多了。他學會了用更健康的方式使用桌上型電腦，並在生活中找到了某種程度的平衡。他在棒球隊打球，在中學裡有一些親密的朋友。但他的母親仍然保持警惕，對約翰的電子產品使用仍保持積極主動的限制。因為，與任何成癮一樣，復發往往發生在脆弱的時刻。確保他的臥室有健康的布置，沒有電腦，以及沒有電子產品的餐桌都是治療的一部分。
＊病人姓名已更改。
Nicholas Kardaras博士是國家頂級康復中心DunesEast Hampton的執行主任，前Stony Brook Medicine的臨床教授。他的著作「發光的孩子：屏幕成癮如何劫持了我們的孩子-以及如何打破恍惚症」（St. Martin’s）現已出版發行。
It’s 『digital heroin』: Howscreens turn kids into psychotic junkies
Susan bought her 6-year-old son John aniPad when he was in first grade. 「I thought, 『Why not let him get a jump onthings?』 」 she told me during a therapy session. John’s school had begun usingthe devices with younger and younger grades — and his technology teacher hadraved about their educational benefits — so Susan wanted to do what was bestfor her sandy-haired boy who loved reading and playing baseball.
She started letting John play differenteducational games on his iPad. Eventually, he discovered Minecraft, which thetechnology teacher assured her was 「just like electronic Lego.」 Remembering howmuch fun she had as a child building and playing with the interlocking plasticblocks, Susan let her son Minecraft his afternoons away.
At first, Susan was quite pleased. Johnseemed engaged in creative play as he explored the cube-world of the game. Shedid notice that the game wasn’t quite like the Legos that she remembered —after all, she didn’t have to kill animals and find rare minerals to surviveand get to the next level with her beloved old game. But John did seem toreally like playing and the school even had a Minecraft club, so how bad couldit be?
Still, Susan couldn’t deny she was seeingchanges in John. He started getting more and more focused on his game andlosing interest in baseball and reading while refusing to do his chores. Somemornings he would wake up and tell her that he could see the cube shapes in hisdreams.
Although that concerned her, she thoughther son might just be exhibiting an active imagination. As his behaviorcontinued to deteriorate, she tried to take the game away but John threw tempertantrums. His outbursts were so severe that she gave in, still rationalizing toherself over and over again that 「it’s educational.」
Then, one night, she realized thatsomething was seriously wrong.
「I walked into his roomto check on him. He was supposed to be sleeping — and I was just sofrightened…」
She found him sitting up in his bed staringwide-eyed, his bloodshot eyes looking into the distance as his glowing iPad laynext to him. He seemed to be in a trance. Beside herself with panic, Susan hadto shake the boy repeatedly to snap him out of it. Distraught, she could notunderstand how her once-healthy and happy little boy had become so addicted tothe game that he wound up in a catatonic stupor.
There’s a reason that the mosttech-cautious parents are tech designers and engineers. Steve Jobs was anotoriously low-tech parent. Silicon Valley tech executives and engineersenroll their kids in no-tech Waldorf Schools. Google founders Sergey Brin andLarry Page went to no-tech Montessori Schools, as did Amazon creator Jeff Bezosand Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.
Many parents intuitively understand thatubiquitous glowing screens are having a negative effect on kids. We see theaggressive temper tantrums when the devices are taken away and the wanderingattention spans when children are not perpetually stimulated by theirhyper-arousing devices. Worse, we see children who become bored, apathetic,uninteresting and uninterested when not plugged in.
But it’s even worse than we think.
We now know that those iPads, smartphonesand Xboxes are a form of digital drug. Recent brain imaging research is showingthat they affect the brain’s frontal cortex — which controls executivefunctioning, including impulse control — in exactly the same way that cocainedoes. Technology is so hyper-arousing that it raises dopamine levels — thefeel-good neurotransmitter most involved in the addiction dynamic — as much assex.
This addictive effect is why Dr. PeterWhybrow, director of neuroscience at UCLA, calls screens 「electronic cocaine」and Chinese researchers call them 「digital heroin.」 In fact, Dr. Andrew Doan,the head of addiction research for the Pentagon and the US Navy — who has beenresearching video game addiction — calls video games and screen technologies「digital pharmakeia」 (Greek for drug).
That’s right — your kid’s brain onMinecraft looks like a brain on drugs. No wonder we have a hard time peelingkids from their screens and find our little ones agitated when their screentime is interrupted. In addition, hundreds of clinical studies show thatscreens increase depression, anxiety and aggression and can even lead topsychotic-like features where the video gamer loses touch with reality.
In my clinical work with over 1,000 teensover the past 15 years, I have found the old axiom of 「An ounce of preventionis worth a pound of cure」 to be especially true when it comes to techaddiction. Once a kid has crossed the line into true tech addiction, treatmentcan be very difficult. Indeed, I have found it easier to treat heroin andcrystal meth addicts than lost-in-the-matrix video gamers or Facebook-dependentsocial media addicts.
According to a 2013 Policy Statement by theAmerican Academy of Pediatrics, 8- to 10 year-olds spend 8 hours a day withvarious digital media while teenagers spend 11 hours in front of screens. Onein three kids are using tablets or smartphones before they can talk. Meanwhile,the handbook of 「Internet Addiction」 by Dr. Kimberly Young states that 18percent of college-age internet users in the US suffer from tech addiction.
Once a person crosses over the line intofull-blown addiction — drug, digital or otherwise — they need to detox beforeany other kind of therapy can have any chance of being effective. With tech,that means a full digital detox — no computers, no smartphones, no tablets. Theextreme digital detox even eliminates television. The prescribed amount of timeis four to six weeks; that’s the amount of time that is usually required for ahyper-aroused nervous system to reset itself. But that’s no easy task in ourcurrent tech-filled society where screens are ubiquitous. A person can livewithout drugs or alcohol; with tech addiction, digital temptations areeverywhere.
So how do we keep our children fromcrossing this line? It’s not easy.
The key is to prevent your 4-, 5- or8-year-old from getting hooked on screens to begin with. That means Legoinstead of Minecraft; books instead of iPads; nature and sports instead of TV.If you have to, demand that your child’s school not give them a tablet orChromebook until they are at least 10 years old (others recommend 12).
Have honest discussions with your childabout why you are limiting their screen access. Eat dinner with your childrenwithout any electronic devices at the table — just as Steve Jobs used to havetech-free dinners with his kids. Don’t fall victim to 「Distracted ParentSyndrome」 — as we know from Social Learning Theory, 「Monkey see, monkey do.」
When I speak to my 9-year-old twin boys, Ihave honest conversations with them about why we don’t want them having tabletsor playing video games. I explain to them that some kids like playing withtheir devices so much, they have a hard time stopping or controlling how muchthey play. I』ve helped them to understand that if they get caught up withscreens and Minecraft like some of their friends have, other parts of theirlives may suffer: They may not want to play baseball as much; not read books asoften; be less interested in science and nature projects; become moredisconnected from their real-world friends. Amazingly, they don’t need muchconvincing as they』ve seen first-hand the changes that some of their littlefriends have undergone as a result of their excessive screen time.
Developmental psychologists understand thatchildren’s healthy development involves social interaction, creativeimaginative play and an engagement with the real, natural world. Unfortunately,the immersive and addictive world of screens dampens and stunts thosedevelopmental processes.
We also know that kids are more prone toaddictive escape if they feel alone, alienated, purposeless and bored. Thus thesolution is often to help kids to connect to meaningful real-life experiencesand flesh-and-blood relationships. The engaged child tethered to creativeactivities and connected to his or her family is less likely to escape into thedigital fantasy world. Yet even if a child has the best and most lovingsupport, he or she could fall into the Matrix once they engage with hypnoticscreens and experience their addicting effect. After all, about one in 10people are predisposed towards addictive tendencies.
In the end, my client Susan removed John’stablet, but recovery was an uphill battle with many bumps and setbacks alongthe way.
Four years later, after much support andreinforcement, John is doing much better today. He has learned to use a desktopcomputer in a healthier way, and has gotten some sense of balance back in hislife: He’s playing on a baseball team and has several close friends in hismiddle school. But his mother is still vigilant and remains a positive andproactive force with his tech usage because, as with any addiction, relapse cansneak up in moments of weakness. Making sure that he has healthy outlets, nocomputer in his bedroom and a nightly tech-free dinner at the dinner table areall part of the solution.
*Patients』 names have been changed.
Dr. Nicholas Kardaras is executive directorof The Dunes East Hampton, one of the country’s top rehabs and a formerclinical professor at Stony Brook Medicine. His book 「Glow Kids: How ScreenAddiction Is Hijacking Our Kids — and How to Break the Trance」 (St. Martin’s)is out now.
