THE JUDGE'S CORNER: What Digital Media is Doing to Our Youth By Judge Margaret Pickard   Children learn primarily via face-to-face interactions with their families, their caregivers, and their communities. However, kids today spend more time with media than they do with face-to-face interactions, with the average child over five spending nine hours a day on digital media, including computers, cell phones, TVs, and iPads. If we count multi-tasking, which allows children to interface with multiple devices simultaneously, that number goes up to eleven hours a day. We need to reclaim the children and re-focus their attention away from screen time if we want them to truly succeed in life and CASA volunteers can help with that effort.   Over-dependence on digital media leads to a host of problems for children, including but not limited to difficulties with social relationships, attention deficit disorders, and addiction problems. There is no question that children and adults are spending more time with their digital media devices than they are in their human interactions. It can be observed in any school, park, or restaurant, when caregivers and children may be “together,’ but are often hooked to their phone screens rather than interacting with one another.   READ MORE CHANGE A CHILD'S STORY: “I just want to go home” -A story by CASA volunteer, Mimi M. It was summer of 2012 - I had just been assigned my third case as a CASA volunteer. It was a sibling group of three; a 7-year-old boy, 5-year-old girl, and 4-year-old boy. It was clear from the beginning that these kids were not much different than the kids from most cases we encounter – they had been exposed to very difficult circumstances which, understandably, manifested into some behavioral issues (especially for the oldest boy).  Thankfully, a single placement was found for all three siblings, but by the time I got the case and contacted the foster family, a 10-day notice had already been submitted. This resulted in me meeting the kids, for the first time, at Child Haven. Shortly after, another placement was found, but that quickly resulted in the same outcome… 10-day notice, and back to Child Haven. Unfortunately, this cycle was repeated two additional times, resulting in 4 placements within a couple of months! Eventually, it was determined that, although they were bonded, the behavior of the oldest was the primary reason for the disruptions, so it was decided that a separate placement may be the answer.  READ MORE

Become a CASA Volunteer! Are you interested in becoming a CASA volunteer? Maybe you know someone who would be a terrific child advocate. Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteers are assigned by the Judge to advocate for the best interest of a child in foster care. Free informational meetings are scheduled (virtually) four times every month.

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CASA Program of the Eighth Judicial District Court | 702.455.CASA 601 North Pecos Road, Las Vegas, NV 89101 www.CASALasVegas.org

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