Left Brain Right Brain

When I think of the modern phenomenon of ADD and ADHD, I picture in my mind a pile of hay. If you think of each strand as an electrical circuit in the brain, you can get a good picture of what is happening to our children. As I have stated before there are trillions of electrical circuits firing in a child's brain, which are then hard wired as they develop into adulthood.  Depending upon what a child hears and sees repetitiously, will determine what he retains, gains, or loses. It is no wonder that one of the dominant career choices for junior high and high school students is to work in connection with some form of video game development.  What children see and hear daily is influencing their motivations and their futures.

Furthermore, a child who is sedated with the media will have a greater propensity to think in illogical disconnected thought patterns. Whereas children who read, or are read to, develop the ability to think in logically connected thought patterns. Moreover, watching TV generally shifts brain activity from the left side which is responsible for logical thought and critical analysis, to the right side. The right side does not critically analyze incoming messages, but instead triggers a release of feel good addictive endorphins, influencing a purely emotional response.

If we are going to cultivate in our children and ourselves, the skill of discernment, then we must put away childish things and be transformed through the renewing of our minds.  It has now been thirty years since I first met Charlie T. and I will never forget what he said to me on that day: "You will be the same today as you will be five years from now, except for the people you meet, and the books you read!"