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Reminiscing about the good old days when we were growing up is a memory trip well worth taking, when trying to understand the issues facing the children of today. A mere 20 years ago, children used to play outside all day, riding bikes, playing sports and building forts. Masters of imaginary games, children of the past created their own form of play that didn’t require costly equipment or parental supervision. Children of the past moved… a lot, and their sensory world was nature based and simple. In the past, family time was often spent doing chores, and children had expectations to meet on a daily basis. The dining room table was a central place where families came together to eat and talk about their day, and after dinner became the center for baking, crafts and homework.Today’s families are different. Technology’s impact on the 21st century family is fracturing its very foundation, and causing a disintegration of core values that long ago were what held families together. Juggling work, home and community lives, parents now rely heavily on communication, information and transportation technology to make their lives faster and more efficient. Entertainment technology (TV, internet, videogames, iPods) has advanced so rapidly, that families have scarcely noticed the significant impact and changes to their family structure and lifestyles. A 2010 Kaiser Foundation study showed that elementary aged children use on average 8 hours per day of entertainment technology, 75% of these children have TV’s in their bedrooms, and 50% of North American homes have the TV on all day. Add emails, cell phones, internet surfing, and chat lines, and we begin to see the pervasive aspects of technology on our home lives and family milieu. Gone is dining room table conversation, replaced by the “big screen” and take out. Children now rely on technology for the majority of their play, grossly limiting challenges to their creativity and imaginations, as well as limiting necessary challenges to their bodies to achieve optimal sensory and motor development. Sedentary bodies bombarded with chaotic sensory stimulation, are resulting in delays in attaining child developmental milestones, with subsequent impact on basic foundation skills for achieving literacy. Hard wired for high speed, today’s young are entering school struggling with self regulation and attention skills necessary for learning, eventually becoming significant behavior management problems for teachers in the classroom.So what is the impact of technology on the developing child? Children’s developing sensory and motor systems have biologically not evolved to accommodate this sedentary, yet frenzied and chaotic nature of today’s technology. The impact of rapidly advancing technology on the developing child has seen an increase of physical, psychological and behavior disorders that the health and education systems are just beginning to detect, much less understand. Child obesity and diabetes are now national epidemics in both Canada and the US. Diagnoses of ADHD, autism, coordination disorder, sensory processing disorder, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders can be causally linked to technology overuse, and are increasing at an alarming rate. An urgent closer look at the critical factors for meeting developmental milestones, and the subsequent impact of technology on those factors, would assist parents, teachers and health professionals to better understand the complexities of this issue, and help create effective strategies to reduce technology use. The three critical factors for healthy physical and psychological child development are movement, touch and connection to other humans. Movement, touch and connection are forms of essential sensory input that are integral for the eventual development of a child’s motor and attachment systems. When movement, touch and connection are deprived, devastating consequences occur.Young children require 3-4 hours per day of active rough and tumble play to achieve adequate sensory stimulation to their vestibular, proprioceptive and tactile systems for normal development. The critical period for attachment development is 0-7 months, where the infant-parent bond is best facilitated by close contact with the primary parent, and lots of eye contact. These types of sensory inputs ensure normal development of posture, bilateral coordination, optimal arousal states and self regulation necessary for achieving foundation skills for eventual school entry. Infants with low tone, toddlers failing to reach motor milestones, and children who are unable to pay attention or achieve basic foundation skills for literacy, are frequent visitors to pediatric physiotherapy and occupational therapy clinics. The use of safety restraint devices such as infant bucket seats and toddler carrying packs and strollers, have further limited movement, touch and connection, as have TV and videogame overuse. Many of today’s parents perceive outdoor play is ‘unsafe’, further limiting essential developmental components usually attained in outdoor rough and tumble play. Dr. Ashley Montagu, who has extensively studied the developing tactile sensory system, reports that when infants are deprived of human connection and touch, they fail to thrive and many eventually die. Dr. Montagu states that touch deprived infants develop into toddlers who exhibit excessive agitation and anxiety, and may become depressed by early childhood.As children are connecting more and more to technology, society is seeing a disconnect from themselves, others and nature. As little children develop and form their identities, they often are incapable of discerning whether they are the “killing machine” seen on TV and in videogames, or just a shy and lonely little kid in need of a friend. TV and videogame addiction is causing an irreversible worldwide epidemic of mental and physical health disorders, yet we all find excuses to continue. Where 100 years ago we needed to move to survive, we are now under the assumption we need technology to survive. The catch is that technology is killing what we love the most…connection with other human beings. The critical period for attachment formation is 0 – 7 months of age. Attachment or connection is the formation of a primary bond between the developing infant and parent, and is integral to that developing child’s sense of security and safety. Healthy attachment formation results in a happy and calm child. Disruption or neglect of primary attachment results in an anxious and agitated child. Family over use of technology is gravely affecting not only early attachment formation, but also impacting negatively on child psychological and behavioral health.Further analysis of the impact of technology on the developing child indicates that while the vestibular, proprioceptive, tactile and attachment systems are under stimulated, the visual and auditory sensory systems are in “overload”. This sensory imbalance creates huge problems in overall neurological development, as the brain’s anatomy, chemistry and pathways become permanently altered and impaired. Young children who are exposed to violence through TV and videogames are in a high state of adrenalin and stress, as the body does not know that what they are watching is not real. Children who overuse technology report persistent body sensations of overall “shaking”, increased breathing and heart rate, and a general state of “unease”. This can best be described as a persistent hypervigalent sensory system, still “on alert” for the oncoming assault from videogame characters. While the long term effects of this chronic state of stress in the developing child are unknown, we do know that chronic stress in adults results in a weakened immune system and a variety of serious diseases and disorders. Prolonged visual fixation on a fixed distance, two dimensional screen grossly limits ocular development necessary for eventual printing and reading. Consider the difference between visual location on a variety of different shaped and sized objects in the near and far distance (such as practiced in outdoor play), as opposed to looking at a fixed distance glowing screen. This rapid intensity, frequency and duration of visual and auditory stimulation results in a “hard wiring” of the child’s sensory system for high speed, with subsequent devastating effects on a child’s ability to imagine, attend and focus on academic tasks. Dr. Dimitri Christakis found that each hour of TV watched daily between the ages of 0 and 7 years equated to a 10% increase in attention problems by age seven years.In 2001 the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement recommending that children less than two years of age should not use any technology, yet toddlers 0 to 2 years of age average 2.2 hours of TV per day. The Academy further recommended that children older than two should restrict usage to one hour per day if they have any physical, psychological or behavioral problems, and two hours per day maximum if they don’t, yet parents of elementary children are allowing 8 hours per day. France has gone so far as to eliminate all “baby TV” due to the detrimental effects on child development. How can parents continue to live in a world where they know what is bad for their children, yet do nothing to help them? It appears that today’s families have been pulled into the “Virtual Reality Dream”, where everyone believes that life is something that requires an escape. The immediate gratification received from ongoing use of TV, videogame and internet technology, has replaced the desire for human connection.It’s important to come together as parents, teachers and therapists to help society “wake up” and see the devastating effects technology is having not only on our child’s physical, psychological and behavioral health, but also on their ability to learn and sustain personal and family relationships. While technology is a train that will continually move forward, knowledge regarding its detrimental effects, and action taken toward balancing the use of technology with exercise and family time, will work toward sustaining our children, as well as saving our world. While no one can argue the benefits of advanced technology in today’s world, connection to these devices may have resulted in a disconnection from what society should value most, children. Rather than hugging, playing, rough housing, and conversing with children, parents are increasingly resorting to providing their children with more videogames, TV’s in the car, and the latest iPods and cell phone devices, creating a deep and widening chasm between parent and child.Cris Rowan, pediatric occupational therapist and child development expert has developed a concept termed ‘Balanced Technology Management’ (BTM) where parents manage balance between activities children need for growth and success with technology use. Rowan’s company Zone’in Programs Inc. http://www.zonein.ca has developed a ‘System of Solutions’ for addressing technology overuse in children through the creation of Zone’in Products, Workshops, Training and Consultation services.

Today, website owners and web developers are realizing the importance of SEO training courses. The truth is, if you want to drive more traffic to your website, you need to learn how to properly optimize your site. In order to do this, you must be fully equipped with the latest SEO techniques and information that will guide you along the way.The Importance of SEOThere has been an increasing number of websites you can find online. With this, the competition to get on top of search engines is getting tougher. A lot of website owners are doing their best in order to increase their site’s traffic.Search engine optimization, also known as SEO, plays an important role in driving more traffic to a particular website. SEO is considered to be a complex subject but with ample knowledge and skills, anyone can properly optimize a website. To effectively optimize a website, you need to learn the basics of SEO and everything you need to know about it.Why Take SEO Training Courses?Latest SEO Information and Techniques – If you want to become knowledgeable about SEO, you can find a lot of resources online for free. However, you cannot fully rely on these resources because they could be outdated ones. With this, taking an SEO course is the best option you can do. You’ll be ensured that with a course on SEO, you’ll only get the latest SEO strategies and information.Personalized Training – One of the best things about taking a course on SEO is the opportunity of obtaining a personalized training in which you are guided with a step by step learning.Less Expensive Than Hiring An SEO Company – Today, there are a lot of websites which hire an SEO company to help them reach the peak of success. However, opting for this kind of option can be quite expensive. With a good SEO training, you are ensured with a personalized training at an affordable price.A Deeper Understanding About SEO – When you want to learn more about SEO, you can always do a self-study by doing a research online. However, SEO is full of technical terms which you are not yet familiar about. By taking SEO training courses, you’ll be able to grasp a deeper understanding about what SEO is all about. A course on SEO will definitely guide you along the way.If you own a website, it is indeed beneficial to take an SEO training course for you to be well-informed of the latest SEO techniques and information. This way, you will be able to know how to effectively optimize your website. Knowing the most effective SEO strategies can be your edge among other website owners. If you are looking for a reliable SEO course, there are a lot of SEO training courses you can find online. With this, you’ll be able to find a reliable SEO training course to answer your needs.Whether you run a small business or a huge company, it is always beneficial to take SEO training courses.

In order to spend less on your auto insurance, property insurance, life insurance policy or another type of insurance that is available in the industry today, there are a number of things that you can do. It is necessary to know about the do’s and dont’s for you to get cheap insurance rates from among the best providers available on the market. So, it is very important that everyone does their research well ahead of time before making an investment. In particular so, if you’re planning to get the cheapest rate possible when another policy term comes effective. Having this in mind, listed below are a few tips that you can share with other people who have the same or similar goals and objectives.Shop Around for the very best Insurance CompaniesOne of the first steps in looking for the best insurance rates is searching for the most beneficial insurance providers in the industry. This action doesn’t have to be complex as there are a variety of websites that will provide the consumer with this kind of info. From reviewing websites that list the top ten insurance companies on the market to checking a number of different official sites to see what products they are offering, there is a lot of great info online that people have access to today.Alongside reviewing internet based insurance quotes, another excellent way to find the best insurance firms is usually to network. Some of these networks may be within one’s family, on the job, social setting and among friends. There are several means now available that people might use to discover the information that they would need. For instance, when someone likes their own insurance firms, they are surely very willing to share what they have learned over time. So, they can point those who are on the lookout for good insurance coverage at an affordable rate in the right direction.Contrast Insurance rates from Different CompaniesOnce it is time for an insurance plan to get renewed, the majority of folks are likely to settle for the new rates that they’re given without asking any questions. Even if the new rate could be the best rate that they may find, a lot of people do not take some time from their schedules to look for a better rate. Sadly, this is not always the most suitable practice for people that actually want to save money on their family’s budget. In truth, it is within this period that individuals have a chance to reduce their monthly expenses quite significantly. To illustrate, once the new policy renewal comes in, among the first things that every individual requires to do is begin looking around for multiple quotes. A lot of people highly recommend securing a minimum of three insurance quotes from multiple providers to compare. Before you start this process, however, it is very important for everyone to remember that these insurance quotes can only be compared accurately when the features of the insurance plan are the same. Meaning if the individual is aiming to secure a quotation for an auto insurance policy, they have to request the exact deductible amounts from each company in order that computations will be identical. If that recommendation is not followed, the best rate could be based of lesser coverage.Go for a Lower Insurance deductible When Inquiring about Insurance QuotationsIn addition to comparing quotations from multiple organizations, another wise way of managing monthly insurance payments is to choose lower deductibles. Lower deductibles will automatically lower the value that individuals are required to pay each and every month. However, before these amounts are changed significantly, it is necessary for the covered person to know that this amount comes out of the pocket first whenever a claim has to be filed. So, it is very important for individuals to take into consideration their insurance deductibles very carefully prior to signing the documents.Inquire about Insurance Quotes Discount rates that Policy owners Qualify forThe insurance coverage rates for policy holders can vary greatly from one to another. This is because the amounts for each person can differ dependent on several types of discounts. One of these may involve buying multiple type of insurance policy from the same company. Because insurance companies are attempting to get as much business from the customers as they possibly can, such a discount may be a win win for both the client and the insurance provider. Another common discount that some people may or may not be familiar with is discounts for those who take defensive driving courses in case of automotive insurance. The reason being these programs teach their students how to make good driving decisions, as well as avoiding accidents. Each discount can help to lower the payments a bit or a lot so it’s essential for individuals ask about every type of discount offered, especially if they need to get the maximum benefits.ConclusionIf you are thinking to invest in a fresh insurance policy for one’s vehicle, home or other items, you can acquire the ideal rates possible by looking around in advance. Even in the event the insurance policy comes up for renewal, it’s a sound practice to revisit the insurance policy rates so that you can still get the ideal deals. Furthermore it is worth noting that many professionals in the industry can offer great ways to get one of the best quotes. Several of which includes, obtaining multiples quotes from different companies, choosing lower deductibles, and asking about additional discounts.

In social media, a brand is created when there is a co-ordination between brand identity and brand culture. Brand identity and brand culture are complex terms. They are terms that must be understood in order to create a brand in the social media era. The best way to explain complex issues is to give an illustration.The U.S. Marines have a brand. This brand has both an identity and a culture. The identity of the Marines is they are to obey orders. This is best illustrated by the movie, “A Few Good Men”. In this movie, two Marines are convicted of a murder because even though they obeyed orders, they failed to protect the weak. The Surge in Iraqi was successful because the Marines understood their brand.The success of the Surge in Iraq is an illustration and an analogy of how of how brand identity and brand culture work together to create a brand. In very simple terms, the surge in Iraq was a branding campaign. The surge was successful because the U.S. Marines understood their brand and they knew how to communicate this brand successfully to the Iraqi people. This is analogous to a successful social media strategy. To have a successful social media brand, a marketer must know their brand, and they must know how to communicate this successfully. The marines knew how to do this.To understand how the Surge worked, let’s use the analogy of going to the store. We go to a shelve and we have a choice in purchasing one of either two products. The choice of which product you purchase will come down to which product is branded the best. A brand is a combination of brand identity and brand culture. These two things create a brand.The “product” the Iraqis were choosing was the establishment of a government. They had two choices in their “market place”. They could choose either a government of their own choosing, or they could choose a government installed by the insurgency. Their choice would be same as if it were for any other product. The choice would come down to branding.The branding of the Marine Corps involves two things; brand identity and brand culture. The identity of the Marines is that they are people of honor who obey orders. There was an election in Iraqi in which Iraqi citizens decided who they wanted to govern them. The orders for the Marines were that they were to enforce the results of this election because the Iraqis couldn’t do it themselves. This created a brand for the Marines in Iraq.The insurgency offered a product revolving around having an installed government, based on a narrow interpretation of Islam. This is the brand of the insurgency.To the mind of the insurgent, they are men of honor as well. Their culture was not one in which the weak would be protected. In Iraq there were two factions of Islam. If you belonged to the opposite side of the insurgency, you would be killed or terribly abused. Insurgent religious precepts demanded this. The weak would not be protected. Just the opposite. The weak would be abused. An insurgent government offered no choice and no protection for the average Iraqi citizen. Iraqi citizens had a choice among two brands, the Marines or the Insurgency, in establishing a government.The choice would come down to branding. The Iraqi people made their choice based on a terrible incident that established the Marine brand in the minds of Iraqi citizens.An Iraqi family was massacred by a Marine patrol. There was an attempted cover-up. The Marine’s brand identity is that they are men and women of honor. The Marines have mechanisms for reporting battlefield abuses. Several marines who were present reported this incident to a higher chain of command. These were low rank, patrol marines.Investigations followed and several marines were accused, tried, and convicted of serious crimes. Some of these were Marine officers. These officers had a court martial and were imprisoned after they were convicted. This process impressed the Iraqi population. The Marines brought their own to justice through the words of lower ranking Marines.In Saddam’s era something like this wouldn’t happen. Rank would protect you. The right group could and would do anything they wanted to.The Iraqi chose the Marine brand. Under the Marine brand, honorable men protect those who can’t protect themselves. It was this brand that created success for the Surge. Under the Marines, the average Iraqi citizen saw that they would be protected. This is why surge worked and why the Iraqis could choose a government of their own making. The Surge worked because the Marines understood how to create a brand. A brand is created by co-ordinating a brand and a culture.Dean [email protected]

Technology, computers and the field of communications are pushing forward and they bring about many benefits.With the appearance of online education, everything has changed. It doesn’t work like it used to in the old days. The online learning platform has been a major step forward for people looking to further their education but who are also very busy with their regular job.This makes education even more accessible and the learning process comes with added flexibility. Enrolling in an online class means you can study any time you want and at your own pace.Online education is very useful for professionals who don’t want to quit their jobs but are looking to advance in their field by earning a degree.Serious professionals who are looking for a boost in their perceived respect, more benefits from their jobs and increased paychecks, find attending an online college the next logical step for advancing in their careers.This is a major trend that keeps getting more and more popular and many organizations have come to realize its various benefits.The fact is, online education has gained a lot more respect over the recent years, and has moved past the skepticism about the quality of learning that’s being received.The main advantage of taking an online class remains the flexibility it provides. This flexibility means scheduling when to learn and at what pace.Since many people are generally busier nowadays they tend not to think about furthering their education, when it would be only a click away.A major percent of these busy individuals would like to further their studies but feel like they don’t have time, they are too busy and have too many responsibilities to even squeeze in a few extra hours of learning. They also think there are high prices involving commuting to on-campus programs and the required rent for lengthy stays.If you think about it, most of these problems don’t even exist with online education. After you enroll in an online college, the courses are downloaded to your computer, in your own home and you can begin studying immediately.There are no commuting costs, no need to get a rent somewhere near a physical school and no class schedules to keep track of.Online learning has allowed people to have total control over their learning experience. They learn in their own free time, complete the required tasks at their own pace and so on.All the lessons are taught online by experienced teachers. Some might think that this way of learning comes with a lack of interaction with the teachers or classmates. You can contact your teachers through chat and discussion boards.An online degree comes with many benefits. Aside from enhancing your skill set, it provides a boost at your workplace and may come with better paid jobs and even more offers from employers.

I often wonder, is anybody listening to the people who have been practicing social networking for a very long time and who are willing to help shorten the learning curve for the rest of us? People like Seth Godin, Chris Brogan, Charlene Li, Guy Kawasaki, Mitch Joel, Mari Smith and the list goes on and on. These people, with years of experience are willing to share, free of charge, everything they have learned, well almost everything. Yet, we see people who are getting started, who continue to make the same mistakes that were made before. Is anybody listening?It seems like everyone is so excited to start social networking yet they forget to find out what social networking is all about. I’m sure they read the advice offered, however, they don’t take the time to absorb it before they start networking.What is Social Networking? Social networking is like sharing with your friends and associates. How often have you been involved in a conversation with a friend and felt that they were not listening to you? Pretty frustrating, isn’t it? There they were, looking at you, nodding yet they “heard” only the words you said; they did not “listen” to understand what you said. That’s when you shake your head and ask yourself is anybody listening? That seems to be what’s happening with the advice and information we are providing online.Just because you don’t absorb all of the advice we give is that advice going to stop coming? No, in fact I’m going to give you some more great advice right now; I hope you are listening.Before you rush out and tell everybody what you are going to do for them make sure that you can actually do it. Not all of us are experts at everything, however, we all have areas where we can share information that will be helpful to our fellow social networkers. Take the Flower sisters on YouTube. They started sharing helpful make-up tips and have now produced over 500 very well received clips related to things young ladies encounter; helpful timely advice and information which has led to much more for them.That’s the advice I have for you, helpful timely advice and information will lead to much more for you. Social networking is not “what’s in it for you,” it’s “what’s in it for them.” Before you start social networking you need to listen to your “target” audience and find out what they want.It’s no different than talking to a friend. We all know that good listening is key in effective communication. We listen to our friend to understand what they are saying or trying to say so we can respond in a helpful manner. With social networking it’s the same thing. You have to establish a relationship with your network before much of what you have to say will be heard.You have to spend time listening in order to know how you can help them. Just jumping into a group, forum, blog, webinar or social site and telling everyone to join you because your upline or super-affiliate has told you you have a great product is not going to work. The social networking community is just that, a community, and its reaction to certain behavior is predictable. A person’s behavior will get them placed into specific groups.If you are a newbie, someone obviously just getting started in social networking, and make mistakes because you are following the wrong guidance or no guidance you will be given a little time to learn acceptable etiquette or behavior. However, if you don’t learn you will find yourself outside looking in with no audience to hear what you have to say. When you ask is anybody listening the answer will be no.There are also those people who are all business. They are there to advertise and promote their product or services. They have no time for conversation or other distractions. These people will soon find that they are being blocked by most people and are only talking to themselves.Then there are the people who post a lot and say little or nothing of value. Their posts or tweets are vain attempts to get noticed and they do get noticed, blocked and forgotten.It is the people who may be there for business, yet understand the need to interact, are social on a social network and realize the need to build a relationship, who are making social networking vibrant.These people openly edify other businesses and people within the social community. These are the people who post items of interest from all over the web promoting, educating and serving the social networking community at the same time. They create content that you look forward to seeing which helps them create relationships and friendships while they cultivate their business networking relationships.Which group do you want to be in? Is anybody listening? I hope so.