Child Development Newsletter
The Child Development Newsletter features a thought provoking article with compiled research which profiles how the ways we are raising and educating children with screen-based technology is not sustainable. Author Cris Rowan is a child advocate, biologist and pediatric occupational therapist who is passionate about changing the ways in which humans interact with technology.
Feature Article:
Online vs. Outdoor Learning
Despite numerous studies showing academic decline with increased use of computers in schools, education governments continue to push online learning, a teaching method which became universal during the recent pandemic. Prolific research shows negative association between overuse of screens with student cognitive, physical, social and mental performance. Yet during Covid school closures, governments mandated children and teachers to sit in front of screens for up to 7 hours per day. Isolated, overstimulated, neglected and sedentary at home and now in school, the new millennium child’s very sustainability is now in question. An obvious, research evidenced solution to perils associated with online learning is outdoor classrooms. During previous pandemics in the early 1900s, education systems wisely moved classrooms outside, thus providing children with quality in person education in an outdoor environment. Ignoring health guidelines, lack of supporting research and common sense, governments worldwide continued to cause irreparable harm to children and teachers through mandated online learning. This article provides evidence that school-based technology is contributing to documented declines in student cognitive, physical, emotional, mental and social performance and reviews expert recommendations on how to reverse this disastrous trend. Critical factors for achieving optimal child development and learning are reviewed and in/outdoor school concept is outlined. Do No Harm education technology policy is proposed by writer. Acting together to reduce the use of screens and increase access to healthy activities, we can create sustainable futures for all children.
New Website,
Reconnect Webinars
Reconnect Webinars show how technology effects human development, behavior, and productivity, and how to go about changing the ways in which we use and interact with technology.
 
This spring, Cris's webinars on Child Development, Technology Management and Workplace Ergonomics will be available for purchase. View a list of the forthcoming webinars here.
Research Review
The Reconnect Webinars Fact Sheet contains extensive research which is topically organized, creating an evidenced-based foundation for 13 Reconnect Webinars. 

Cris in the News:
ScreenStong Families Podcast
Melanie and Cris start their conversation discussing the 4 Critical Factors needed for the developing child which include movement, touch, human connection, and nature. Cris emphasizes a focus on increased engagement of these factors to create the foundation your child needs for healthy development of their brain and body. 

Melanie and Cris also unpack her 2017 article Cris wrote for HuffPost, 10 Reasons Why Hand-Held Devices Should Be Banned for Children Under the Age of 12 and how those reasons cited relate to these 4 Critical Factors. 

This episode is so full of science-based information that supports the reduction of screens and promotes the focus on a daily practice of movement, touch, human connection, and nature.
Cris Rowan, BScOT, BScBi, SIPT
Webinar creator Cris Rowan, is passionate about changing the ways in which humans use and interact with technology. Cris has developed a concept termed Balanced Technology Management (BTM) where humans strive to manage balance between healthy activity and technology.

She works globally and locally and has cross culture relevance from indigenous and developing communities. Cris is a visionary, who clearly sees that the ways in which humans are using technology are not sustainable, and the time to act is now. Activist, advocate, author, and prolific speaker, Cris helps people move from the virtual, back into the real world.