Wired Child: Reclaiming Childhood in a Digital Age

by Richard Freed

A practical guide to building your child’s bond with family and fostering school success amid the allure of digital screens Kids’ obsessive use of video games, social media, and texting is eclipsing their connections with family and school—the two most important contributors to their well-being. The a generation of kids who suffer from soaring rates of emotional and academic problems, with many falling prey to an epidemic of video game and internet addictions. In Wired Child, learn why a bevy of social media friends won’t keep teens from feeling empty inside and turning to cutting for relief. See how our kids have become smartphone experts who struggle in reading, math, and the other educational basics that colleges consider in deciding admissions. And discover how many “child-friendly” technologies are depriving kids of joy in the real world, putting them at risk for device addictions. Wired Child gives you the confidence and skills you need to safely navigate your children through a rapidly shifting media landscape. Dr. Freed offers concrete parenting strategies that will help you create the strong family kids need and encourage their school success. You’ll also learn how to protect kids from destructive tech addictions, and instead guide them to use technology productively as a positive force for their future.

Genres: Parenting, Psychology, Nonfiction, Technology

265 pages, Paperback

First published March 12, 2015

About the author

Richard Freed, PhD, is a child and adolescent psychologist, author, and his insights have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other media outlets. He is a leading expert on how our kids’ increasingly screen-focused lives affect their physical and mental health as well as academic success.

Freed has devoted his career to revealing how Silicon Valley is using psychology—a discipline that we associate with healing—as a weapon against kids in order to pull them online and keep them there. This is achieved by consumer tech corporations joining forces with world-leading psychology experts to create the virtually unknown science of persuasive design used in social media, video games, and online video. Freed is determined to bring knowledge of this science—which now exists among a handful of tech elite—to all of those who care for kids in his newly released book, Better Than Real Life: How Silicon Valley’s Secret Science of Persuasive Design Is Stealing Childhood.

Freed speaks nationally to groups of parents, teachers, and health care providers. Receiving his professional training at Cambridge Hospital / Harvard Medical School and the California School of Professional Psychology, he is on the advisory boards of the Screen Time Action Network at Fairplay, Families Managing Media, and Wait Until 8th. Freed lives in Walnut Creek, California and is the proud father of two daughters.

Reviews

[Peggy Haslar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is a must-read for anyone who has or works with children. Born of a clinical psycholigist's work and research, it will convince you that children need the support and limits of adults in order to enjoy the benefits of techology without becoming consumed by it. It's particularly helpful in revealing how social media addiction can affect girls and video gaming's potential for affecting boys. Very common sense--not EVERYBODY is going to develop an addiction, but you'd be surprised how tech companies have made use of knowledge gained by the gambling industry and applied it to getting kids hooked on hours of gaming...thus reducing their free time for real life, including family time and school work, and how commercially driven everything about our tech use really is.

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative - Dr Freed cites plenty of qualitative research to back up his statements and claims. The book reinforces my own belief around unproductive use of technology in young people and the damage in later years. Inappropriate and unlimited tech use has become addictive - Freed urges us to look at it as an addiction invading the lives of our younger generation.

Freed mentions Skinner, behaviourism and how consultants are manipulating these principles to help organisations lure even more parents/young children to give up their non-screen time to pursue mindless entertainment on screens. Freed focuses on preventing tech use instead of 'reacting' at a later age - I agree. Most of his interventions use a behavioural approach - he himself thinks just talking (therapy) doesn't work.

I felt that the book's focus was mostly on young males and their addiction to video games/screen time however this could be due to Freed's clientele population. Nevertheless, I'd recommend this book to anyone remotely interested in what responsibility we have as adults towards the younger generation and why we should limit their tech use.

[Theracrane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I lost this book for a while but finally found it at the bottom of the laundry basket, which I guess I hadn't seen in weeks, despite doing laundry on a daily basis!

Anyway, I tried to approach this book with skepticism because of confirmation bias (I think kids, especially little kids, should interact way less with technology than they do) and while I think the author probably engages in a little bit of cherry picking and making too much of a few studies, in general, I think he's spot on, and I will continue to take it to heart as our kids grow. I just wish it didn't still feel like we're fighting a whole culture on this. (Where we live, most kids get smart phones when they're seven, for example.) Does anybody with slightly older kids have helpful tips??

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book last school year for our Technology/Sexual Education task force at school. The author, Dr. Richard Freed, says he stumbled into the field of technology and childhood because of parents constantly seeking him out & he "found evidence of a national problem affecting a generation of youth".

Freed's approach is very strong regarding the ills of too much technology in the lives of children. It helped to reinforce our family's decisions to remain digital minimalists (as compared to the average Western family). But even though he went into detail regarding the ills, it was not fear mongering. His stance was logical and well explained.

[Meghan Owenz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wired Child is by far the best book I have read on this topic. It is extremely well –researched. Perhaps its shining accomplishment is Dr. Freed’s ability to identify the enemy. Parents have been confused; arguing or battling one another (or sometimes their own kids), detracting from the real culprit. Media and tech companies target well-meaning parents, viciously so, pushing products into the emotional space between parent and child. Dr. Freed provides excellent evidence of that. He helps you remember the tried-and-true parenting strategies. You may come away from this book mad, but you will also be motivated.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly valuable for adults to understand how technology is affecting the young generation and how we can better monitor their use!

[Cristi Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every parent should read this book!

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gr8 read for parents

[Pinar G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadece 10. Chapter okunsa kafi, hep ayni argumanlar, kanitlar...

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye opening and confirms my gut feeling when it comes to children and entertainment technology! I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone who cares for children.

[Kenneth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for all parents. Especially those prone to simply handing a device to their young child for "digital babysitter" duty.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some helpful stats and perspective