SCREENS, MACHINES AND HUMANS

TECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN INTERACTION

While recovering from my broken ankle, I didn't have a ROBOT to keep me company. But I did read…"THE MOST HUMAN HUMAN: What Artificial Intelligence Teaches Us About Being Alive," by Brian Christian and then listened to NPR's TED Radio Hour about Robotics and AI (Artificial Intelligence), "Do We Need Humans?" 

and read more… ideas for future blogs are the NPR story,"A Push to Boost Computer Science Learning Even at an Early Age," and the article, "Using Tablet Computers with Toddlers and Young Preschoolers," in the latest National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) journal, "Young Children."

RED FLAGS, TECHNOLOGY AND YOUNG CHILDREN

These titles were red flag topics to me and immediately caught my attention, because our connection with technology and children is not just a concern, but a reality that has been steadily changing the way we educate and raise children in our society. This has been one of the key issues I've worked on as an educator and member of CEASE (Concerned Educators Allied for a Safe Environment, see February 11 Blog). 

Keeping the dialogue open and staying current with movements and policies that need to be considered, analyzed, challenged or supported, are goals moving us toward positive change.

HUMAN CONNECTIONS

I had time to think how my recovery would have been different if my connection with other people had been primarily through computers, phones and artificial intelligence, instead of face to face, in person with friends and family, real people, real social interaction.  How would I feel after eight weeks of interacting with screens and machines and not humans? I'm lucky I didn't need to find out, because special people in my life shared their time with me while I was healing. The "Tend and Befriend" impulse is powerful in my circle of friends. (See March 2 blog on FRIENDSHIP).

Those questions are added to my concerns about how technology is impacting infancy and childhood through the teen years, as well as society as a whole.  How much is human interaction replaced by computerized devices? What difference does it make if interaction is real or artificial? How intelligent is artificial intelligence? 

Evaluating Technology Needs

I'm writing this blog on a computer and it appears on the Internet; I'm using modern technology, but what's good for adults is not the template to follow when we evaluate what's good for young children. A child's healthy development requires adults to know what they need at different stages and provide an appropriate learning and growing environment. 

The use of tablets, hand held devices, phones, apps and computerized toys for young children has proliferated and has become a marketing tool that continues to target our children as consumers, while limiting the human interaction and playtime needed for healthy development. 

Where does technology fit into balanced and healthy lives for infants, children and adults? We'll explore that question in future blogs.  

I hope you will leave a comment and let us hear your voice about this important topic. See you next time and keep thinking BEYOND BORDERS.  

FRIENDSHIP

Tend and Befriend

"A landmark UCLA study suggests friendships between women are special. They shape who we  are and who we are yet to be. They soothe our tumultuous inner world, fill the emotional gaps in our marriage, and help us remember who we really are. By the way, they may do even more."

Friendship makes our lives manageable, fulfilling, and spiritually and emotionally healthy, which means we are better able to cope with the stresses and challenges society hands to us daily. Our children, grandchildren and students, the kids in our world neighborhood, need us to function well in order to provide them with even their basic needs. As we age, friendship enriches our lives in countless and immeasurable ways. 

I first read the study, "Tend and Befriend," after completing a Master's Thesis, "The Role of Creative Expression in Women's Rediscovery of Identity After Loss" (Pacific Oaks College, 2002).  I interviewed and studied women whose recovery included active engagement with writing, the arts, music, photography and other creative endeavors. They experienced physical and emotional changes that promoted healing and growth. What I also found in my research, however, was reinforced by the UCLA study: during the initial stages of loss or grieving, before picking up a pen, camera or brush, the women felt supported and began healing through their relationships with friends and family. We need each other. 

The UCLA Study on Friendship Among Women, (2002) describes an alternative to fight or flight that has been long attributed to both men and women's reaction to stress. Women have another response, "Tend and Befriend," releasing the hormone oxytocin, when they gather together, helping and sharing, through friendship. 

Researchers in this study suggested that men do not feel this calming response, because their levels of testosterone reduce the effects of oxytocin. I think most of us agree that friendship makes our lives better and nourishes on both the receiving and giving sides. You may recognize this hormone as the one released during childbirth, nursing and tending our young. 

Years ago, during an educational workshop, a wise woman reminded the overworked and tired audience of teachers, women and men,  that we all need friends, as well as work, in order to fly with both wings and not limp along on one. Yes, we needed to hear such elemental wisdom.  While some of the research above is based on women's studies, friendship, of course, is not gender specific. Everyone benefits from kindness and friendship.   

You can check out the links below for two more studies on oxytocin: 

American Psychological Association report on "Tend and Befriend" (2008) on the APA website, "The two faces of oxytocin…"

"The Biology Behind the Milk of Human Kindness,"   a New York Times article (2009) continues the discussion, reporting that the brain's supply of oxytocin in both women and men, plays a part in the development and feelings of kindness, trust, empathy and compassion. 

Stay tuned for the next post on Friendship and the Broken Ankle Update! Here's a peek at my newest fashion statement.   See you next time.

New boot: out with the purple, in with the red.