Can you imagine what your children could do with seven more hours in a day? That is a lot more books to read, games to play and quality time spent with loved ones.
It transpires that those elusive extra hours may not be so hard to find after all.
As children today spend more time using technology than ever before (averaging those seven precious hours a day), it is time we considered what may be happening in the brains of these young people.
Growing up in 2021 means that the answer to any question is at your fingertips. As a result of this, is memory retention suffering? With skim reading becoming the norm will students ever develop the critical thinking skills necessary for thorough analysis of texts and literature? Are we harming our youth by not educating ourselves about solutions for these problems?
Can we wean ourselves off digital dependency?
This academic year will never be forgotten by students or educators. Younger students brought devices to school for the first time. Instead of creating games in the playground at lunch time, safety took precedence and social distancing measures were adhered to. A teacher was never without a device as we catered for students who opted to remain at home in these unusual times.
Technology saved education during the pandemic and we are all grateful for that. But have we really considered the potential negative effects of this new dependency?
Many of us believe ourselves to be adept multitaskers. We can hold a conversation with a co-worker, respond to emails, all while simultaneously reading whatever pops up on our phones. As we flit from one task to the next, is anything being done well? What about students who eat their lunch, chat to their peers and scroll through their iPads at break time?
Online distractions prove challenging
Daniel Levitin, an American neuroscientist, has written at length about children’s attention span. His concerns are that children’s prefrontal cortex and underlying central executive system have not yet learned the rewards of sustained effort and attention.
Multi-tasking can produce the stress hormone cortisol or the fight-or-flight hormone adrenaline. With the brain over-stimulated, Levitin says that multitasking creates a dopamine – addiction loop which rewards the brain for losing focus and searching for external stimulation. This explains why that hit from a mindless scroll seems like a good idea even when there is a more important task to be done.
In addition to this, using devices that emit blue light at night is associated with reduced melatonin concentration which impacts sleep duration and quality. Many studies have shown that a lack of adequate shut eye is associated with poor cognitive function and memory retention which can directly impact learning.
Getting lost in a book for hours on end is a childhood memory for those of us who grew up without devices. Deep reading has numerous positive benefits – it develops critical thinking, abstract thought, empathy, creativity, and divergent thinking.
Building a biliterate brain
Now it is hard to find time to read without being interrupted by notifications. Even if we put our phones away, our minds still wander and contemplate what we could be missing out on. Maryanne Wolf is a neuroscientist who has studied the reading brain. When she found herself unable to engage in deep reading like she did as a child, she sought out a solution to the problem faced by all of us who are readers in the digital age.
Rather than try to reform to old ways and paint technology as the enemy, she promotes the idea of building a biliterate brain.
Similarly to the way young bilingual children learn to speak two languages, Wolf suggests building a childhood that exhibits the correct balance between print and digital communications. Until five years of age, Wolf suggests print medium should be the main focus and after five, a gradual introduction of digital medium is optimum for a healthy relationship with technology. This correlates with the World Health Organisation guidelines of less than 1 hour screen time per day for children between two and four.
Wolf states that if we approached technology in this way, by the time children reach adulthood their brains would be masterpieces of cognitive and linguistic flexibility. Children would learn from the outset that each medium, like each language, has its own rules, characteristics and best purposes and would be confident to navigate both safely.
Adults can lead the way
The best way to encourage healthy technology use is to lead by example. If your children see you putting your phone away, they will be more likely to follow suit.
Creating a balance between online and offline activities will instil healthy habits in children. If children know there are other options for having fun such as cooking together, reading, playing board games, arts and crafts or exercising, technology will just be one of many options.
Dr Thoraiya Kanafani is a clinical psychologist at the Human Relations Clinic in Dubai. She states that there are numerous benefits to some time without technology but that it is not easy.
“Disconnecting from technology is difficult for many adults, let alone the digital natives. However, the benefits of disconnecting for longer periods of time during the summer can definitely bring on initial frustrations but eventual significant benefits for students”. She goes on to say that the benefits of disconnecting include “an increase of focus, experiencing the present, strengthening social skills, enhancing empathy and building communication skills.”
We can reap these rewards without complete disconnection. Like all good things in life, balance is key. A healthy relationship with your phone and device combined with adequate understanding of how to support your child growing up as a digital native will be enough to ensure you enjoy its benefits and set your child up for success. We do not need to completely shut down, just pressing reset may be enough.
Claire Heylin is primary English lead at Deira International School in Dubai
UAE squad
Esha Oza (captain), Al Maseera Jahangir, Emily Thomas, Heena Hotchandani, Indhuja Nandakumar, Katie Thompson, Lavanya Keny, Mehak Thakur, Michelle Botha, Rinitha Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Siya Gokhale, Sashikala Silva, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish (wicketkeeper) Udeni Kuruppuarachchige, Vaishnave Mahesh.
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – First ODI
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
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Abu Dhabi traffic facts
Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
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6.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh82.500 (Dirt) 1,400m
7.05pm Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,400m
7.40pm Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (Turf) 2,410m
8.15pm Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (D) 1,900m
8.50pm UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (TB) Conditions Dh183,650 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm Dubai Trophy (TB) Conditions Dh183,650 (T) 1,200m
10pm Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (T) 1,400m
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Multitasking pays off for money goals
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.
"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."
Brief scores:
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Armstrong 13', Soares 20'
Manchester United 2
Lukaku 33', Herrera 39'
Leading all-time NBA scorers
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387
Karl Malone 36,928
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Michael Jordan 32,292
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Rory Burns, Keaton Jennings, Ben Stokes, Joe Root (c), Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Ben Foakes (wk), Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Jack Leach, James Anderson
PROFILE BOX
Company name: Overwrite.ai
Founder: Ayman Alashkar
Started: Established in 2020
Based: Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai
Sector: PropTech
Initial investment: Self-funded by founder
Funding stage: Seed funding, in talks with angel investors
UK’s AI plan
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- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Mobile phone packages comparison
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Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 630Nm
Price: Dh875,000
On sale: now
Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:
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2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition
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