http://www.rrdnyyy.com/post/jUtYP1DLHqpHvnvd?share=enable_share

Susan bought her 6-year-old son John an iPad when he was in first grade. “I thought, ‘Why not let him get a jump on things?’ ” she told me during a therapy session. John’s school had begun using the devices with younger and younger grades — and his technology teacher had raved about their educational /ˌɛdʒu'keʃənl/ benefits /'bɛnəfɪt/— so Susan wanted to do what was best for her sandy /'sændi/-haired /hɛrd/ boy who loved reading and playing baseball.
therapy
/‘θɛrəpi/

n. 治疗，疗法

rave /rev/
vi. 咆哮；胡言乱语；狂骂
n. 咆哮；胡言乱语；热烈赞美
rave about
对…倾倒；热情地谈论；激愤地说

She started letting John play different educational games on his iPad. Eventually /ɪ’vɛntʃuəli/
, he discovered Minecraft, which the technology/tɛk’nɑlədʒi/
teacher assured /ə'ʃʊrd/ her was “just like electronic /ɪ,lɛk'trɑnɪk/ Lego.” Remembering how much fun she had as a child building and playing with the interlocking /ˌintə'lɔkiŋ/ plastic blocks, Susan let her son Minecraft his afternoons away.

Eventually adv. 终于, 最后

Craft /kræft/

n. 手艺；工艺；太空船
vt. 精巧地制作

assured vt. 保证；担保；使确信；弄清楚
interlocking adj. 联锁的

At first, Susan was quite pleased. John seemed
engaged /ɪn’ɡedʒ/

in creative play as he explored the cube-world of the game. She did 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 /rɛr/ minerals /‘mɪnərəl/

to survive
/sɚ’vaɪv/

and get to the next level with her beloved
/bɪ’lʌvd/

old game. But John did seem to really like playing and the school even had a Minecraft club,
so how bad could it be?

engage vt. 雇佣；吸引，占用；使订婚；使参加；预定
engage in 从事，参加
mineral n. 矿物; 矿石; 矿物质

Still, Susan couldn’t deny she was seeing changes in John. He started getting more and more focused on his game and losing interest in baseball and reading while refusing to do his chores. Some mornings he would wake up and tell her that he could see the cube shapes in his dreams.
chores //tʃoris// 家庭杂务；日常的零星事务；讨厌的或累人的工作
Although that
concerned her, she thought her son might just be exhibiting an active imagination
/ɪ,mædʒɪ’neʃən/

. As his behavior continued to
deteriorate
/dɪ’tɪrɪəret/

, she tried to take the game away but John **threw temper /'tɛmpɚ/ **
tantrums /'tæntrəm/. His
outbursts
/‘aʊtbɝst/

were so
severe
/sɪ’vɪr/

that she gave in, still
rationalizing to herself over and over again that “it’s educational.”

concerned
/kən’sɝnd/
adj. 担心的, 烦恼的, 忧虑的

exhibit
/ɪɡ’zɪbɪt/
vt. 显示；展览；提出（证据等）
imagination /ɪ,mædʒɪ’neʃən/

n. 想像力
空想, 想像
想像出来的东西, 幻想物

deteriorate vi. 恶化, 变坏

Throw a temper tantrum: 大发脾气
tantrum n. 发脾气；发怒
temper n. 脾气；（钢等）回火；性情；倾向
outburst n. （火山、情感等的）爆发；破裂
severe

adj. 严厉的；苛刻的；剧烈的；严峻的
gave in 屈服；让步；交上
rationalize
/‘ræʃnə’laɪz/

vt. 使合理化
vt. & vi. 为错误的或有害的行为找理由

over and over again repeatedly /rɪ'pitɪdli/

Then, one night, she realized that something was seriously/'sɪrɪəsli/ wrong.
seriously
adv. 严重地;危险地
认真地
严肃地；当真地
真的(表示吃惊)
说真的
<非正>很;非常
认真对待；把…当回事

“I walked into his room to check on him. He was supposed to be sleeping — and I was just so frightened…
/‘fraitnd/
”

frightened
adj. 害怕的

frighten /‘fraɪtn/

vt. & vi. (使)惊恐
vt. 吓唬

be supposed to 应该是

She found him sitting up in his bed staring
/‘stɛrɪŋ/

wide-eyed, his bloodshot
/‘blʌdʃɑt/

eyes looking into the distance as his glowing iPad lay next to him. He seemed to be in a
trance /træns/. Beside herself with panic/ˈpænɪk/, Susan had to shake the boy repeatedly to snap him out of it.
Distraught
/dɪ’strɔt/
, she could not understand how her once-healthy and happy little boy had become so addicted/ə’dɪktɪd/ to the game that he
wound
up ˌwaʊndˈʌp
in a
catatonic
/ˌkætə’tɑnɪk/

stupor.
/‘stupɚ/

staring adj. 目不转睛的,凝视的,显眼的,(毛发)竖立的
wide-eyed adj. 睁大眼睛的,吃惊的,天真的
bloodshot adj. (眼睛)充血的,有血丝的
look into 窥视；浏览；观察
distance n. 距离；远方；疏远；间隔
trance
n. 恍惚；出神；着迷，入迷
vt. 使恍惚；使发呆

beside oneself 极度兴奋, 对自己的感情失去控制
panic n. 恐慌，惊慌；大恐慌
snap out 快速脱离；流出
distraught /dɪ’strɔt/ adj. 忧心如焚的;心神错乱的;几乎发狂的
addicted
/ə’dɪktɪd/

adj. 沉溺于某种（尤其是不良的）嗜好的；入了迷的，上了瘾的
v. 使…上瘾（addict的过去分词）

wound up ˌwaʊndˈʌp

很紧张的; 生气的

catatonic
/ˌkætə’tɑnɪk/

adj. (患)紧张症的, (患)强直性昏厥的
stupor
/‘stupɚ/

n. 目光呆滞,恍惚,昏迷
惊愕

There’s a reason that the most tech-cautious
/'kɔʃəs/ parents are tech designers and engineers. Steve Jobs was a
notoriously/noˈt ɔrɪəslɪ/ low-tech parent. Silicon Valley tech
executives /ɪɡ’zɛkjətɪv/

and engineers enroll/ɛnˈrol/ their kids in no-tech Waldorf /'wɔ:ldɔ:f/ Schools. Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page went to no-tech Montessori/ˌmɑntɪˈsɔri/ Schools, as did Amazon creator Jeff Bezos and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.

tech-cautious
/‘kɔʃəs/

adj. 谨慎的；十分小心的

notoriously /noˈt ɔrɪəslɪ/

adv. 恶名昭彰地,声名狼藉地
著名地,众所周知地

executive
/ɪɡ’zɛkjətɪv/

n. 主管, 高级行政人员, 执行官

enroll /ɛnˈrol/ vt. 登记；把...记入名册；使加入；使入伍
Waldorf /'wɔ:ldɔ:f/ 华德福教育 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_education
Montessori /ˌmɑntɪˈsɔri/ 蒙台梭利(Maria,1870-1952意大利女医师及教育家)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_education

Many parents intuitively
/ɪnˈtjuɪtɪvlɪ/ understand that
ubiquitous /ju'bɪkwɪtəs/ glowing screens are having a negative
/‘nɛɡətɪv/

effect on kids. We see the
aggressive
/ə’ɡrɛsɪv/
temper
tantrums when the devices are taken away and the wandering
/‘wɑndərɪŋ/
attention spans /spæn/when children are not
perpetually/pɚˈp ɛtʃʊəlɪ/ stimulated by their hyper-arousing devices. Worse, we see children who become bored,
apathetic/ˌæpə'θɛtɪk/, uninteresting and uninterested when not plugged in.

intuitively /ɪnˈtjuɪtɪvlɪ/ adv. 直觉地;直观地
ubiquitous
/ju’bɪkwɪtəs/
adj. <正>普遍存在的;无处不在的

negative
/‘nɛɡətɪv/

消极的, 非建设性的
aggressive/ə’ɡrɛsɪv/
adj. 好争斗的, 挑衅的, 侵略性的
wander
/‘wɑndɚ/

wandering
/‘wɑndərɪŋ/

(精神)恍惚的；错乱的
span /spæn/ (注意力的) 持续时间
perpetually /pɚˈp ɛtʃʊəlɪ/ adv. 永恒地，持久地
stimulated /'stimjə,letid/ vt. 刺激; 激励
hyper-arousing
/‘haɪpɚ/

/ə’raʊz/

hyper -
adj. 亢奋的；高度紧张的
arouse
引起, 激发
apathetic /ˌæpə’θɛtɪk/

adj. 无感情的；冷淡的 | 无兴趣的；无动于衷的
plug /plʌɡ/ 塞住；用插头将与电源接通

But it’s even worse than we think.
We now know that those iPads, smartphones and Xboxes are a form of digital drug.
Recent brain imaging research is showing that they affect the brain’s frontal/'frʌntl/ cortex //'kɔrtɛks// — which controls executive functioning, including impulse
/‘ɪmpʌls/

control — in exactly the same way that
cocaine /koˈken/ does. Technology is so
hyper-arousing that it raises
dopamine/'dopəmin/ levels — the feel-good
neurotransmitter most involved/ɪn'vɑlvd/ in the addiction/ə'dɪkʃən/ dynamic/daɪ'næmɪk/ — as much as sex.

frontal cortex 前皮质
impluse
/‘ɪmpʌls/
神经冲动

cocaine /koˈken/n. 〈药〉可卡因

dopamine
/‘dopəmin/n. 多巴胺（一种治脑神经病的药物）

neurotransmitter /‘nʊrotrænzmɪtɚ/n. 神经传递素

involved /ɪn’vɑlvd/

v. 涉及；使参与；包含（involve的过去式和过去分词）
addiction /ə’dɪkʃən/

n. 上瘾，沉溺；癖嗜
This addictive effect is why Dr. Peter Whybrow, director of neuroscience/ˌnʊro'saɪəns/ 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 been researching video game addiction — calls video games and screen technologies “digital pharmakeia” (Greek /ɡrik/ for drug).

addictive
/ə’dɪktɪv/

adj. 使成瘾的, 上瘾的
neuroscience
/ˌnʊro’saɪəns/
神经系统科学（指神经病学、 神经化学等）

UCLA University of California at Los Angeles

the Pentagon
/‘pɛntəɡɑn/
[美国英语]五角大楼(美国国防部的办公大楼，位于弗吉尼亚的阿灵顿，2001年9月11日被恐怖分子劫持的一架飞机撞击，该楼西部一角坍塌)

Pentagon
五角形；五边形

Greek /ɡrik/ 难以理解的东西

That’s right — your kid’s brain on Minecraft looks like a brain on drugs. No wonder we have a hard time
peeling kids from their screens and find our little ones
agitated /'ædʒɪtetɪd/ when their screen time is interrupted.
In addition, hundreds of
clinical/ˈklɪnɪkəl/ studies show that screens increase
depression
/dɪ’prɛʃən/
,
anxiety/æŋ'zaɪəti/ and
aggression/ə'ɡrɛʃən/ and can even lead to
psychotic /saɪ'kɑtɪk/-like features where the video gamer loses touch with reality /rɪ'æləti/.

peeling from
/‘pilɪŋ/
脱皮；剥落（peel的ing形式）

agitated
/‘ædʒɪtetɪd/

adj. 激动的；焦虑的；表现不安的
clinical /ˈklɪnɪkəl/ adj. 临床的；诊所的
depression /dɪ’prɛʃən/ n. 忧伤, 消沉, 沮丧
anxiety
/æŋ’zaɪəti/
n. 焦虑；挂念；渴望；令人焦虑的事

aggression
/ə’ɡrɛʃən/
侵略, 侵犯,挑衅

psychotic
/saɪ’kɑtɪk/
adj. 精神病的;患精神病的

loses touch with reality /rɪ'æləti/. 失去联系

reality
/rɪ’æləti/

现实；实际；真实

In my clinical work with over 1,000 teens/tiːnz/ over the past 15 years, I have found the old axiom/'æksɪəm/ of “An ounce/aʊns/ of prevention/pri'vɛnʃən/ is worth a pound/paʊnd/ of cure/kjʊr/” to be especially /ɪ'spɛʃəli/ true when it comes to tech addiction. Once a kid has crossed the line into true tech addiction, treatment can be very difficult. Indeed, I have found it easier to treat heroin and crystal/'krɪstl/ meth/mɛθ/ addicts than lost-in-the-matrix video gamers or Facebook-dependent social media addicts.
teen /tiːnz/十几岁的（等于teenaged）
axiom
/‘æksɪəm/公理；格言；自明之理

ounce n. 盎司；少量；雪豹

prevention
/pri’vɛnʃən/

n. 防止,预防
pound /paʊnd/ n. 英镑；兽栏；重击，重击声；拘留所
crystal /‘krɪstl/

meth /mɛθ/ 〈美俚〉甲安菲他明(一种兴奋剂)
addict
/‘ædɪkt/
有瘾的人；入迷的人

According to a 2013 Policy Statement by the American Academy of
Pediatrics, 8- to 10 year-olds spend 8 hours a day with various
/‘vɛrɪəs/
digital media while
teenagers/'tinedʒɚ/ spend 11 hours in front of screens. One in three kids are using tablets/'tæblɪt/ or smartphones before they can talk. Meanwhile/'minwaɪl/, the handbook/'hændbʊk/ of “Internet Addiction” by Dr. Kimberly Young states that 18 percent of college/'kɑlɪdʒ/-age internet users in the US suffer from tech addiction.

pediatrics
/ˌpi:di’ætrik/
adj. 小儿科的

various /'vɛrɪəs/adj. 各种各样的；多方面的

teenager
/‘tinedʒɚ/n. 青少年

handbook /‘hændbʊk/n. 手册；指南

Young /jʌŋ/

adj. 年轻的；初期的；没有经验的
suffer from 遭受，因...而蒙受损害

Once a person
crosses over the line into
full-blown addiction — drug, digital or otherwise — they need to
detox
/‘ditɑks/
before any other kind of
therapy/'θɛrəpi/ can have any chance of being effective. With tech, that means a full digital detox — no computers, no smartphones, no tablets. The extreme /ɪk'strim/ digital detox even
eliminates/ɪ'lɪmɪnet/ television. The
prescribed/prɪˈskraɪbd/ amount of time is four to six weeks; that’s the amount of time that is usually required for a
hyper-aroused nervous/'nɝvəs/ system to reset itself. But that’s no easy task in our current tech-filled society where screens are
ubiquitous /ju'bɪkwɪtəs/. A person can live without drugs or alcohol/'ælkəhɔl/; with tech addiction, digital temptations/tɛmp'teʃən/ are everywhere.

crosses over 跨越

full blown /blon/ adj. 盛开的,张满的,成熟的

detox/‘ditɑks/ 戒瘾诊所,戒瘾病房

extreme
/ɪk’strim/

adj. 极端的；极度的；偏激的；尽头的
eliminate /ɪ’lɪmɪnet/
vt. 消除, 排除 | 〈口〉干掉
prescribed/prɪˈskraɪbd/ adj. 规定的，法定的
nervous
/‘nɝvəs/
adj. 神经系统的, 神经性的
ubiquitous
/ju’bɪkwɪtəs/adj. <正>普遍存在的;无处不在的

temptation /tɛmp’teʃən/

n. 诱惑, 引诱

So how do we keep our children from crossing this line? It’s not easy.
The key is to prevent your 4-, 5- or 8-year-old from getting hooked on screens to begin with. That means Lego instead 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 or Chromebook until they are at least 10 years old (others recommend 12).

Have honest discussions with your child about why you are limiting their screen access.
Eat dinner with your children without any electronic devices at the table — just as Steve Jobs used to have tech-free dinners with his kids. Don’t fall
victim/'vɪktɪm/ to “
Distracted /dɪ’stræktɪd/

Parent
Syndrome
/‘sɪndrəm/
” — as we know from Social Learning Theory, “Monkey see, monkey do.”

victim
/‘vɪktɪm/n. 牺牲者；受害人；牺牲品

distracted /dɪ’stræktɪd/ adj. 心烦意乱的,慌张失措的,错乱的

syndrome /'sɪndrəm/
n. 综合征
Monkey see, monkey do.猴子看见，就学会

When I speak to my 9-year-old twin boys, I have honest conversations
/ˌkɑnvɚ’seʃən/
with them about why we don’t want them having tablets or playing video games. I explain to them that some kids like playing with their devices so much, they have a hard time stopping or controlling how much they play. I’ve helped them to understand that if they get caught up with screens and Minecraft like some of their friends have, other parts of their lives may suffer: They may not want to play baseball as much; not read books as often; be less interested in science and nature projects; become more disconnected from their real-world friends. Amazingly, they don’t need much
convincing as they’ve seen first-hand the changes that some of their little friends have
undergone/ʌndə'gɔ:n/ as a result of their
excessive screen time.

convince
/kən’vɪns/

vt. 说服；使确信，使信服
first-hand adj. & adv. (得自)直接来源的〔地〕 , 第一手的〔地〕
undergone /ʌndə'gɔ:n/
vt. 经历，经受；忍受

excessive /ɪkˈsɛsɪv/ adj. 过度的, 过分的; 极度的

as a result of 作为...的结果

Developmental
/dɪ,vɛləp'mɛntl/ psychologists understand that children’s healthy development involves social interaction
/ˌɪntə’rækʃən/
, creative
imaginative /ɪ’mædʒɪnətɪv/

play and an
engagement
/ɪn’ɡedʒmənt/
with the real, natural world. Unfortunately
/ʌn’fɔrtʃənətli/
, the
immersive /
ɪ’mɜːrsɪv
/ and addictive world of screens
dampens
/‘dæmpən/
and
stunts/stʌnt/ those developmental processes.

developmental
/dɪ,vɛləp’mɛntl/
adj. 发展的

psychologist
/saɪ’kɑlədʒɪst/ n. 心理学研究者;心理学家

interaction
/ˌɪntə’rækʃən/
n. 一起活动, 合作, 配合, 相互作用

imaginative
/ɪ’mædʒɪnətɪv/
adj. 富于想像力的; 运用想像力的

engagement /ɪn’ɡedʒmənt/

约会, 约定
unfortunately /ʌn’fɔrtʃənətli/ adv. 遗憾地, 不幸地
immersive ɪ’mɜːrsɪv 身临其境
dampen
/'dæmpən/
[‘dæmpən]
v.(使)潮湿；使沮丧；抑制
**stunts /stʌnt/ **vt. 阻碍…的正常生长或发展

We also know that kids are more
prone/pron/ to addictive escape if they feel alone,
alienated/ˈeljənetɪd/,
purposeless /‘pɝpəsləs/ and bored. Thus
/ðʌs/ the solution is often to help kids to connect to meaningful
/'minɪŋfl/ real-life experiences and
flesh-and-blood /‘fleʃənd’blʌd/

relationships. The engaged child
tethered/'tɛðɚ/ to creative activities and connected to his or her family is less likely to escape into the digital fantasy/'fæntəsi/world. Yet even if a child has the best and most loving support, he or she could fall into the Matrix once they engage with
hypnotic/hɪp'nɑtɪk/ screens and experience their addicting effect. After all, about one in 10 people are
predisposed

/ˌpri:di’spəuzd/
towards
addictive tendencies. /'tɛndənsi/

prone /pron/ adj. 易于…的; 很可能…的
alienated /ˈeljənetɪd/ adj. 感到孤独的,不合群的
purposeless
/‘pɝpəsləs/
adj. 无目的的; 无意义的

meaningful
/‘minɪŋfl/

adj. 有目的的,有用意的;有意义的
flesh-and-blood
/‘fleʃənd'blʌd/

adj. 血肉般的
flesh /flɛʃ/ n. 肉
tether
/‘tɛðɚ/

n. 范围；系链；拴绳
vt. 用绳或链拴住
fantasy /‘fæntəsi/

adj. 虚幻的
hypnotic /hɪp’nɑtɪk/
adj. 催眠的，催眠术的；易于催眠的

predisposed
/ˌpri:di’spəuzd/

vt. 使预先有倾向,使预先有意向

tendency
/‘tɛndənsi/n. 倾向, 趋势

In the end, my client Susan removed John’s tablet, but recovery was an uphill/ˌʌp'hɪl/ battle with many bumps/bʌmp/ and setbacks /'sɛt,bæk/ along the way.
uphill
/ˌʌp’hɪl/

bump /bʌmp/ vt. 碰，撞；颠簸
setback /'sɛt,bæk/ n. 挫折; 阻碍

Four years later, after much support and
reinforcement/ˌriɪn'fɔrsmənt/, John is doing much better today. He has learned to use a desktop computer in a healthier way, and has gotten some sense of balance back in his life: He’s playing on a baseball team and has several close friends in his middle school. But his mother is still
vigilant /‘vɪdʒələnt/

and remains a positive and
proactive/ˌpro'æktɪv/ force with his tech usage because, as with any addiction,
relapse /rɪ'læps/ can
sneak /snik/up in moments of weakness. Making sure that he has healthy outlets/'aʊt,lɛt/, no computer in his bedroom and a nightly/'naɪtli/ tech-free dinner at the dinner table are all part of the solution.

reinforcement
/ˌriɪn’fɔrsmənt/

(
感情或思想等的)巩固,加强,强化
vigilant
/‘vɪdʒələnt/adj. 警惕的；警戒的；警醒的；注意的

proactive /ˌpro’æktɪv/

adj. 前摄的（前一活动中的因素对后一活动造成影响的）；有前瞻性的，先行一步的；积极主动的
relapse rɪ’læps/再度恶化;故态复萌

sneak /snik/ 暗中进行的

outlets /'aʊt,lɛt/ n. 出路；排水口；销售点；批发商点（outlet的复数形式）

nightly
/‘naɪtli/

adj. 每夜的；夜间的