News Reel

At TAG Counseling we frequently work with teens who suffer from video game and/or screen addictions. More and more kids are playing violent games early in childhood resulting in increasingly difficult social problems we're dealing with as a society. Moving to Learn recently posted the following article as to why children under the age of 12 should not play violent video games... and the information is sobering. Video games are a ubiquitous form of entertainment in today’s children and youth, and while fun and exciting, video games have a dark side that parents, teachers and clinicians can no longer afford to ignore. The recent rise in mass killings by gun, knife and moving vehicles, has wrongly focused on gangs and gun control as a primary intervention. Society would be wise to shift attention toward understanding [...]

Summer is winding down and as the last long weekend before autumn approaches families are often trying to sneak in one last trip together. But when everyone (and everything!) is packed into the car, mobile devices seem to find their way into everyone's hands to keep people "entertained" on the road. How about trying a family-friendly podcast instead? Everyone listens and discusses what they thought - informative and interactive - seems like a win-win! Screenagers recently shared their top ten family podcasts - which we're including below: PLANET MONEY The Lollipop War This battle is about sugar, and how an Ohio lollipop company wants to buy it cheaper while the Minnesota sugar-beet farmers want to keep U.S sugar prices up. Sugar is such a big part of our culture that the topic definitely warrants a [...]

One of the biggest social issues we face today is sex trafficking. By definition sex trafficking is when minors are commercially sexually exploited. As sad and scary as this is, as a society we need to be mindful that this is happening all over the United States. Focus on the Family published the following information to help us better understand this crime and how we can identify and help its victims. Sex trafficking is a vast web of traffickers and victims.  In order to be able to understand this growing tragedy of sex trafficking, and to help the victims who are caught up in this crime, we need to understand how trafficking works. The perpetrators of this crime (the traffickers, johns, pimps) don’t fit a single stereotype.  They represent every social, ethnic, and racial group. Some perpetrators [...]

With summer in full swing kids all over are talking about the game Fortnite, and spending their time playing it. Screenagers tackles this topic with a Q & A with a gaming addict in recovery and gets his thoughts on the latest teen obsession below: In my profession in the healthcare world, there is a growing concern about the power of internet games becoming so consuming that an individual increasingly craves game time to the point that they suffer many negative consequences in their lives—in their relationships, academics, work, mental health, and more. The consensus is mounting on the need to officially recognize this as a behavioral addiction—also called a process addiction. Yesterday the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that it will be adding “gaming disorder” to their International Classification of Diseases. WHO states: “Gaming disorder is defined….by [...]

Summer is upon us! With the warming up of days comes kids out of school, pool parties, BBQ's ... and arguing about screen time?! This week's Tech Talk Tuesdays, put out by Screenagers, published the following article to help guide parents how to talk about screen time without creating arguments - and with everyone at home and the weather heating up, we could all use less arguments! Optimizing Parenting: I find this statistic staggering: thirty percent of adults and the same percentage of youth report that they argue daily about screen time at home. That is millions of kids, teens, and parents fighting every single day about screen issues and many millions more who fight often, though not daily. I have some suggestions about how to put more joy into parenting given all the new [...]