Nicholas Kardaras, author of Glow Kids, which says cellphones and computers are exercising the “fright/flight” part of youthful brains rather than the thinking part, will appear from noon to 2 p.m. Friday March 3 at the Westhampton Free Library.
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Kardaras, who lives in nearby Sag Harbor and who addressed that library on Sept. 8, 2016, was the subject of a Time mag Aug. 31, 2016 feature headlined, “Screens in Schools Are a $60 billion Hoax.” The Aug. 28, 2016 New York Post had a two-page feature on him headlined “Digital Heroin.”
The WH library has said it was waiting until the “National Day of Unplugging” March 3-4 to schedule a talk by him. It is hosting a “special lunch and learn” session.
Library critics note that the Kardaras book was published last August and the library should have scheduled him as a speaker then when the local population was about 20,000 vs. the 2,000 it shrinks to in the winter. As of noon today, six people had registered for the Kardaras talk, said library dirrector Danielle Waskiewicz. It will not be video or tape-recorded, she said.
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The “Day of Unplugging” observance, a project of Jewish non-profit Reboot, is an adaption of the ritual of carving out one day per week to unwind, unplug, relax, reflect, get outdoors, and connect with loved ones. Tech companies are raking in large sums and school authorities have mostly been co-opted by them, Kardaras contends.
His basic message is that electronics spur the “pleasure circuits” in brains, doubling the amount of dopamine while shrinking the amount of gray matter in the frontal cortex, the decision-making center. Neurological development and verbal intelligence are delayed, he says.
He has appeared on Fox & Friends, ABC-TV, CNN sister channel HLN, Katie Couric’s Yahoo! show and more than 30 radio programs with his pleas to curb the almost insatiable appetite children have for what falls under the general heading of “screen time.”
Screen Addiction Like Food, Sex
Food and sex have the same effect, he notes. Children who are under constant stimulation from screens can lose their innate sense of curiosity, he says.
About 20 local residents attended, peppering him with questions such as what constitutes “screen addiction?” He had no firm answer, saying it could be a few hours for some children and but many more for others. A boy of about 10 told at length of his love of screen games but complained that he can’t free himself from some of them because the “pause button” does not work.
“There is not one credible research study that shows that a child exposed to more technology earlier in life has better educational outcomes than a tech-free kid,” Kardaras writes. “Screens are dulling rather than sharpening young developing brains…Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) rates have exploded by 50% over the past ten years with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicating rates will continue to rise by 5% per year.”
Tech execs put their own children in “no-tech Waldorf Schools,” he notes.
Kardaras: Reduce Screen Time
Radiation health advocates, who have been warning about cancer and other diseases caused by cellphones, Wi-Fi routers, computers, celltowers, etc., will not like the thrust of what Kardaras is saying—that cutting down on screen time should be at the top of the “to do” list at this time.
Computer Harm to Be Addressed
The library’s announcement says Kardaras “will discuss the detrimental potential of technology on the brains of our children, reviewing a growing body of clinical research which shows the possible correlation of habitual screen use to disorders such as ADHD, anxiety, depression, and increased aggression.
“Is the global tech explosion a harmless indulgence with educational benefits or something that can potentially damage the developing minds of an entire younger generation? The National Day of Unplugging is March 3-4 ... could you unplug?”
Contact is given as the reference desk at the library, 631/288-3335, ext.4
Library is Center of Controversy
Critics of the library have formed the website “Free the Westhampton Free Library” website. Its protests led to the resignation of five of the six Trustees in 2015. However, its goal of having the board switch from self-appointed to elected status has yet to be realized.
The board on Dec. 14, 2016 rejected attempts by citizens to join the board, prompting a strong protest that was posted on the website of the citizens.
“Many other association libraries allow their taxpayer voters to decide who they feel is qualified, whose platform and vision might represent what each of them wishes to see in their community library that they financially support,” said the posting on “Free the Westhampton Free Library” website.
“Six self-appointed trustees have quite a lot of power based on an 1897 charter establishing our multimillion dollar taxpayer-funded library as a private corporation,” says the posting.
Sabina Trager, former library administrative assistant who has been seeking to join the board for more than a year, said she will vote against the annual library budget until fiscal responsibility is shown by the board.
Library Spending Plans Criticized
She is especially concerned about plans to spend $1 million on a parking lot when the library is little used ten months of the year. She and others are also opposed to spending nearly $3 million on construction costs on a building that is only seven years old.
“As it is, over $4 million cash sits in the library bank accounts (over and above the nearly $3 million annual operating budget), and only administration and management (non-union employees) received wage increases after this budget increase passed in May, which I feel is unacceptable. Plus, the employees should come before the building.”
The website seeks participation by the citizens of Westhampton and several other towns and villages served by the library. Citizens are also angry at the board because they are only allowed to speak for five minutes at board meetings.
They also say that the board having Thomas Moore, husband of WHB Mayor Maria Moore, as president of the board is a flagrant conflict of interest that undercuts the independence of the library.
Main St. Tree Removal Is Upsetting
WHB residents are upset by plans to remove all 72 trees on Main st. to make way for sewers costing an estimated $20 million. The street would be bare of trees for two years or more, citizens have been told.
Critics say that new sewers are not going to bring new restaurants to the street. The singles crowd that made WHB their No. 1 destination in the Hamptons has fled to Montauk and is not likely to return, they note. Strict laws in WHB forbid unrelated people from sharing rentals.
Lo Isidro, senior director at Real Chemistry with more than a decade of strategic communications and PA experience, has joined Narrative Strategies.
Nelson Fernandez, former North American chair of APCO Worldwide and managing director of Burson-Marsteller, has joined Volunteers in Medicine Berkshires as director of communications and PA.
Lilit Bargar, who was most recently an EVP in the healthcare practice at Weber Shandwick, comes on board at GCI Health as EVP, corporate practice lead.
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