It wasn't until my daughter Jessica wrote a blog about what it was like growing up on the Eastern Shore bisexual that I really understood the difficulties of being part of such a rural community and having to navigate sexuality. Beautifully written and inspiring it points out the complexities of finding self in a rural versus an urban area. This is worth reading as a parent of any LGBTQ+ youth.
--Alison Vooris, MA, Med
Alison Vooris, MA, MEd.
Banding and Trapping Hawks for Education and Research.
Individual identification of birds makes possible studies of dispersal and migration, behavior and social structure, lifespan and survival rate, reproductive success and population growth.
For as long as I can remember, the outdoor environment, nature and the woods have been my sanctuary. A sanctuary of peace and belonging. When I step into the world of nature, it is like a plug is opened and out flows all the stress and anxiety that has accumulated in my body. It is in this place that I am filled with energy instead of being zapped of energy and it is in this place that I discovered the world of birding. The world of birds has opened my eyes to the fine details that surround all of us and I found that I began noticing and paying attention to sounds, colors, textures and sensations that I did not realize were there. All of this was happening as I looked for the smallest movement or quietest sound trying to locate a bird. Without realizing it I had found Mindfulness. I came to realize that the bird is my anchor and the woods for me is my sense of place and mindfulness. The anchor allows me to be present in the moment and empties my mind of all my worries and fears. It’s funny how it has taken so long to put a name to my practice, other than birding.
Birding could be your mindfulness practice too. Why don’t you give it a try? Take a walk in the woods. That could take all your worries away.
Adeline Tryon, PhD. and Shalena Heard, Ph.D.
Have you ever worried about the amount of time your child spends watching television and/or playing video games? Some experts and parents refer to these activities as “screen time” and have questioned the consequences of too much screen time for children and adolescents. A concern shared by many parents is how watching television or playing video games for many hours may interfere with a child’s peer relationships and school progress. A parent’s intuition is often right and a child’s ability to spend unusually long hours concentrating on a television screen is a valid concern.
Dr. Dimitri Christakis, a pediatrician at the University of Washington School of Medicine who studies children and media says that the stimulation provided by video games is more about the pace of the game and how quickly the scenes change. Due to the way our brain works, children who excessively play video games become comfortable with the fast pace and extreme alertness they use to respond and win video games. A potential long-term effect is that such children may find the real world less stimulating or less interesting, which may explain why some children who engage in long periods of screen time appear withdrawn and disconnected from others.
If your child shows other symptoms such as a short attention span, hyperactive behavior, impatience, disorganization, fidgeting, along with spending long periods of time watching television and/or playing video games you should consider having them evaluated for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A child’s brain seeks more rewards and stimulation when they have ADHD. When a child is not taking medication to regulate their ADHD symptoms playing video games may serve as a form of self-medication, because it provides their brain with the stimulation it is seeking.
Despite potential fears about screen time interfering with your child’s academic progress Dr. Christopher Lucas, associate professor of child psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine, states that the concentration children use to watch television and play video games is actually different from the kind they need to engage in school and other life activities. However, children who have less friends and engage in less social activities may use screen time to substitute actual peer relationships.
If the information provided here relates to challenges you are facing with your child, consider scheduling an appointment to discuss the ideas below:
To reduce or limit your child’s screen time the following ideas are recommended:
For the full article and more detailed information see: “Fixated by screens, but seemingly nothing else” by Perri Klass, M.D.
