Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-240) and index.

Claims that technology brings families closer together seem out of sync with kids who retreat to their mobile devices for hours at a time. Assurances of amazing technology learning opportunities are contradicted by kids' obsessive use of entertainment technologies-video games, social networks, and texting-that supplant their focus on school. In Wired Child, child and adolescent psychologist Dr. Richard Freed exposes the powerful myths that underlie our kids' use of technology. These myths have encouraged the "wiring up" of a generation of youth, seducing kids to spend endless hours with digital self-amusements that damage family bonding and education, and put kids at risk of addiction. Wired Child uses the science of behavior and brain function to provide a common-sense guide to build the strong families kids need, promote their success in school, and encourage their productive use of technology.