Pearls of wisdom from
Kevin Roberts, author of Cyber Junkie and Movers, Dreamers, and
Risk-Takers: Unlocking the Power of ADHD http://www.amazon.com/Kevin-J.-Roberts/e/B003OIFWNA
I recently
had the great pleasure of interviewing Kevin Roberts. When I first became
concerned about technology addiction within the autistic spectrum teens in my
social skills groups, the very first book I read was Cyber Junkie. Kevin Roberts tells a personal story of his
journey through videogame and cyber addiction and describes how technology
addiction unfolds in the lives of children, teens, and adults. Kevin also
explains how he conceptualizes gaming and cyber addiction and provides a
detailed discussion of support and treatment options.
In addition
to being a nationally recognized author and public speaker on technology
addiction, Kevin is located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and offers a variety
of treatment and support services to teens and young adults with ADHD,
Asperger's syndrome and cyber addiction. Kevin offers study skills and
executive functioning skills groups for teens and college students. He also
offers individual executive functioning coaching and provides parents with education
and support so that they can understand and work constructively on a variety of
issues including homework, executive functioning, and healthy videogame and
cyber/social media habits.
Kevin's
cyber addiction groups are comprised of 16 to 30-year-olds who struggle with
video gaming, YouTube, social media sites, and net surfing. The majority of
Kevin's clients are young men -- however
he does see females (teens and adults) who also struggle with technology
addiction, particularly social media.
In
interviewing Kevin, I was particularly interested in how he recommends parents approach
“multitasking” during homework sessions. Parents I work with commonly complain their
teen has multiple screens open on their computer and is moving from a Facebook
post, to Twitter, to an instant messaging, to downloading music, to watching a
video on YouTube, to reading an article for school. Kevin explained that when he
is running his study groups, he uses a website that is available through
Firefox called LeechBlock. Leechblock is a simple productivity tool designed to
block “time wasting sites” that can distract teens and young adults.
The site
allows parents to specify which sites they would like to block and for how long
-- and then the computer is free from the enticement of multitasking. Kevin
recommends this product over downloading software. Software can be complicated
to install and many tech savvy teens can uninstall the software or develop
strategies for disabling the software. By using a website that remotely
controls the computer, the teen cannot change the settings, thus allowing for
maximum productivity.
Another area
of interest that I pursued with Kevin was whether parents should block or deny
all access to technology for children and teens that are having significant
problems regulating their access to technology and may be showing signs of
compulsive/addictive behavior. In general, Kevin suggests that parents use
technology as an incentive for academic productivity. Kevin also explained that
teens with Asperger’s syndrome, and to some extent ADHD, do not respond well to
blocking all access to technology. Kevin said that blocking access to
technology often creates meltdowns and power struggles that prove to be
destructive to the parent-child relationship and do not effectively modify technology-related
habits and patterns.
Rather than
adopt a strategy of blocking access to gaming or the internet, Kevin recommends
parents link positive behaviors to gaining access to technology.
So, for
example, during Kevin's study groups, if a student is able to complete his/her
assignment within a specified period of time, he/she is able to gain access to
a favored website or game. Kevin recommends the same process at home -- that is, parents should construct clear productivity
contracts that allow the child/teen to know exactly what they need to do in
terms of completing school related or home related chores and tasks in order to
gain a specific period of access to computers or video games. Kevin also
recommends that when a child or teen is having difficulty with completing
homework due to procrastination, then it is best for the parent to become an
ally and try to help their child figure out a way to get their work done and
earn their screen time. This is obviously a different approach than many
parents take which is to become punitive and adversarial.
I also asked
Kevin what he recommends when a teen cannot accept any limits on video gaming or computer use. Kevin said there
are teens that need to get “unplugged” from all technology and suggested that
wilderness programs are ideal for this type of teen. Not only do wilderness
programs unplug the child/teen from technology, but they also address the social
isolation that comes with technology addiction. In a wilderness program children/teens
are required to be part of a social group and must collaborate with their peers
in order to build shelter, cook food, and carry food and supplies. Kevin
acknowledged these programs are very expensive and therefore may not be
financially feasible for many families. Kevin recommends that parents look into
local programs that may offer wilderness or outdoor programs on weekends
sponsored by mental health organizations or nonprofits organizations.
I asked
Kevin who he sees as most vulnerable to technology addiction. As is discussed
in Cyber Junkie, Kevin stated
that teens with Asperger’s syndrome, ADHD, depression, and bipolar disorder are
most vulnerable to having problems regulating their relationship to video games
and the Internet. Kevin made the incredibly important point that technology addiction
“is always a poor attempt at compensation for a problem that is not being
confronted off-line.” As the research clearly states off-line problems lead to
online problems.
I then asked
Kevin where we are as a culture in terms of understanding the potential risks
of technology addiction for children and teens. Kevin believes we are a culture
enamored with technology and that using new forms of technology is a very
strong current in our culture. Kevin believes that technology addiction is viewed
as affecting extreme minority of our population. Kevin thinks that technology addiction
affects a significant percentage of the population and therefore believes that
we need to teach healthy-positive cyber habits at a very young age. Kevin said
we need to focus on prevention, just as we now do with drugs and alcohol. Kevin
concluded by saying that unfortunately, at the present time, we are not
teaching this lesson to children or teens.
I concluded
my interview by asking if Kevin if he has seen an increase in problems related
to viewing cyber pornography. Kevin said that he has seen as significant
increase in cyber pornography problems. Kevin said that cyber porn is part of a
“package of teen cyber compulsivity” and believes that in many cases compulsive
use of pornography is not about sex per se, but rather about seeking increasing
levels of stimulation. Kevin reports that he knows many teens who became
involved in perverse and unhealthy cyber porn websites that were seeking
greater levels of excitement and stimulation that sadly created and addiction
to pornography.
Overall,
Kevin has seen the good, the bad, and the ugly in gaming and the internet and
believes that with education and prevention children and teens can develop
healthy technology habits that can lead to the very productive use of both
video gaming and computer technology. As stated above, Kevin believes the key
is to provide education and appropriate boundaries beginning in early
elementary school so that the next generation of gamers and net surfers will
maximize the benefits of technology, while avoiding the potential problems and
pitfalls related to technology addiction.
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