Why so many kids can't sit still in school today

Here's an article you might find interesting. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-prime/201212/how-technology-is-changing-the-way-children-think-and-focus

I've been thinking a lot about task-switching in particular.

For example, if I was on the floor playing with stuffed animals, but then I wanted to play with Legos, I would have to get up, get the legos, clear a space out, and maybe put my other toys away before I could start building cool stuff.

This gives your mind and attention some time to close out of one task and open up another. As you get things organized, so does your brain. Think of your brain as a computer, you have a finite amount of ram. Closing out unnecessary applications helps your computer-brain know what to pay attention to and what to devote energy to. In the same way, signaling to your brain that you're done with one task and beginning another will tell it what to pay attention to.

Now, if I'm on reddit, but want to check something on facebook, I only have to move two fingers. I have no proof that this is bad for me, other than it can take me hours to read one reddit post. Frequently I'll look at the clock, realize 2 hours has gone by, and I can only remember 1 or 2 posts. I think I'm effectively "practicing" terrible attention habits. I'm telling my brain, repeatedly, that it should just keep running everything, and I'm barely paying attention to what's going on.

TLDR: Technology, I think, has us practicing all the bad habits associated with short attention spans. This is worse when it's applied to kids as their brains are still developing and are therefore more malleable/ apt to learn these bad habits as just standard behaviors.

/r/dataisbeautiful Thread Parent Link - ashingtonpost.com