From mid-June, millions of students will blacken their patent, baccalaureate or college copies in order to obtain a diploma that will determine their future. Stress, sleep disorders, fatigue, over-consumption of screens… Find out how to help them naturally and without medication, by doing with their physiology rather than against it.
A real novelty faced by the latest generations of parents, screens seem to be serious competitors to the attention spans of children and adolescents. However, does “flicking” screen time work? And what is the right balance between revising and releasing the pressure?
Ban current laptop
If the screens compete with your teenager’s revision sheets at home, this is also the case upstream, during lessons. According to research conducted by Susan Ravizza (a neuroscientist at Michigan State University) on 84 students, those who attend classes with a computer in front of them spend up to 40% of their class time doing online activities (social networks, video games, instant messaging), rather than listening to their teacher.
Bad habits that are not without consequences since, the more students disperse online, the more their exam scores deteriorate. Therefore, reminding your teenager that he saves himself future revisions by listening carefully in class is an argument that can hit home.
Practical tools to limit screen time
On Android phones, the “Digital well-being and parental controls” (“Screen time” at Apple) tool automatically limits screen time or use of particular applications (such as social networks) and has a sleep mode. Computers and tablets with the Family Link app or Windows 10 offer screen time limiting tools to set review ranges or automatic time restrictions. Xbox and PS4 consoles have the same limitation systems.
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Revise less but better?
According to a BVA survey published in 2016, because of digital solicitations, 36% of us, and particularly the youngest, have difficulty concentrating on a task that requires attention (like writing an assignment or reading a book). Dr. Daniel Siegel indeed explains that there is “ revise and revise “, and that some teenagers confide to him to be”incapable to remember what they read or studied. Often doingseveral things at once », ils « continuously disturb their brain “, which will “against the conditions necessary for synaptic modifications allowing school learning ».
Faced with this problem, he advocates rather real review periods alternating with real rest periods rather than very frequent but not very qualitative revisions because they are parasitized by the screens. Get some fresh air, play sports but also take the time to laugh and enjoy group activities “without rigid rules » and where teenagers are allowed to «fool around without being judged is, according to him, just as important for developing the brain as the more serious moments of revision. Moreover, recent research shows that physical exercise, such as walking or running, can promote the learning processes that take place in the hippocampus.
A relaxed parent is worth two
« We are often asked what advice to give to parents whose teenagers are taking their exams. We regularly reply:Let them go!” A relaxed and positive parent is the best gift you can give to a teenager taking an exam.. ” This may seem “a bit stiff “, concede Audrey Akoun, psychotherapist, and Isabelle Pailleau, clinical psychologist specializing in learning, authors of Keep calm and succeed in your exams (ed. Eyrolles).
However, according to them, one month before the famous exam, “the carrots are almost done » : « Either your teenager hasn’t taken the measure of what’s at stake in the exam at all and still doesn’t see the need to get down to work. In this case, your attempts may be in vain. Either he is fully aware of the issues and therefore above all does not no need to add more to it. »
The two specialists therefore advise parents to trust their teenager and avoid controlling how long he has worked or of him “jump on “as soon as he is in front of the TV or on Facebook, recalling that we ourselves do not work better if our boss, our colleagues or our customers”pat on the shoulder every five minutes to ask us if we have finished our file ».
Encourage rather than forbid
You may sometimes forbid screens or going out to your children. However, today we know that setting a goal, acting “pour ” rather than “against is generally more productive. As recommended by Dr. Siegel, an expert on the child’s brain:Instead of trying to suppress an impulse, the adolescent and those around him should focus on something positive to encourage. »
By structuring his brain, the teenager will rather seek the surge of adrenaline or dopamine that gives him the fact of playing, to the detriment of his revisions. Remind him of the long-term consequences of such choices, encourage him to “reflect on their values, on what their instincts tell them will be more effective, says Dr. Siegel, than “simply repressing his impulses and impulses ».
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