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Parent Express for 19-Feb-2009
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In our fast-paced world we can easily run on adrenaline—get a lot accomplished but burn out in the process. Noted life coach Cheryl Richardson emphasizes giving ourselves healthy, nutritious fuel that keeps us going, but doesn't wear us down, as running on adrenaline will eventually do. Our children need the same healthy foods—not only for their bodies, but for their minds as well. Over-stimulation in the form of fast-paced video games can wear out important circuits for thinking reflectively and consciously. The article below, "Video Game Stimulation and the Growing Brain" offers six important ways parents can protect both children and teens from this formidable assault on their nervous systems. A mind is a terrible thing to waste! On Feb. 28 I will present a conversation-workshop on The Vital Five—the core developmental needs that I believe can make all the difference to grow great kids, mitigating potential negative effects in the process. We will definitely be talking about video games and what to do about them. The PCI and the professionals who obtain Parent Coach Certification® from the institute are dedicated to supporting parents with media-related topics. It's through our relationship-centered approach where moms and dads receive relevant information and compassionate understanding for these profoundly challenging times—resulting in more creative decision making for these often frustrating issues. Please contact us for more information. We're here for you! Gloria DeGaetano, Founder and CEO 
Apply Now for Spring Term Start! Application deadline for Spring Term start is March 1, 2009. Applications are now being accepted for entrance Spring Term for the Parent Coach Certification® Training Program with phone classes for Course 1 beginning the week of March 23, 2009. Phone classes are in the evening time to accommodate the work schedules of our students, usually after 5 PM Pacific Time. Please send in the basic application as your first step. Transcripts and letters of reference can follow the basic application. Download the application here. Send to the PCI at: 1400-112th Ave. SE, Bellevue, WA 98004. Applications can be faxed to (425) 646-7569 or sent via email to gloria@thepci.org. Questions? Please call: (425) 401-1519. Spaces are limited. Early applications receive first consideration. Learn more about our acclaimed, graduate-level, distance-learning Parent Coach Certification® Program by clicking here for more information. Check out our Video About the PCI Parent Coach Training Program and see what professionals think about their training with the PCI. 
Working with a parent coach who has received Parent Coach Certification® through the PCI is giving yourself a valuable gift as well as a sound investment in your family's future. PCI Certified Parent Coaches® are caring, thoughtful professionals with years of experience working with parents. They have successfully completed the PCI Parent Coach Certification® Training Program—a comprehensive academic, one-year, graduate-level program in collaboration with Seattle Pacific University. Through a series of coaching conversations that can be either by telephone or in-person, PCI Certified Parent Coaches® help you re-discover your dreams and design your life for more joy and satisfaction. To find a PCI Certified Parent Coach® in your area, please click here or call (425) 401-1519 for a referral to a PCI Certified Parent Coach® selected especially for you. 
Visit www.parentappreciationradio.com to listen to programs featuring PCI Certified Parent Coaches® and other experts from around the country discussing topics of interest to moms and dads. Programs are available as podcasts. Listeners can download individual episodes directly, listen to them from this site using a Web browser, or access them via the iTunes podcast directory. iTunes subscribers will automatically pick up new episodes as they become available!  Video Game Stimulation and the Growing Brain
by Gloria DeGaetano Video games have become the number one choice for screen entertainment, surpassing TV/DVD viewing and movie-going. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 99% of boys, ages 12–17 and 94% of girls in the same age range play video games. Eighty percent play five or more different genres, with racing, puzzles, sports, and action being the most common. What they play, of course, determines whether the game is harmful or helpful to their developing minds and spirits. Violent video games focus kids on murder and mayhem—very different from playing a puzzle game like Tetris that encourages spatial thinking. However, even a few hours a day of Tetris limits the time a child or teen will spend in other activities. Like too much television time, too much video game time limits other experiences absolutely necessary for normal development. When kids play action-packed, fast paced, or violent video games, in particular, they increasingly need more powerful images in order to respond emotionally to the game. This is called stimulus addiction. The term "stimulus addiction" describes the habit that is formed as kids seek out more and more stimulating games to hold their interest. Often kids start out with simple non-violent video games and move into increasingly violent games because violent games are the most stimulating. The more violent the images of the video game, the increased arousal levels of neurotransmitters (brain chemicals) that excite and entice kids to keep playing. Video games today display more horrific violence, with sharp images and realistic graphics. Words, ideas, and images of brutality not ever imagined to be "entertainment" ten years ago currently fill up much of our kids' leisure time. Although the fast pace and emotionally vivid images of manufactured horror are definitely habit-forming, even nonviolent games can become addictive, with their repetitious nature and reinforcement of success. Gamer addiction is real and not easy for moms and dads to deal with. Recently two of my coaching clients expressed major concerns with video games: |
Barb Bushey, PCI Certified Parent Coach® who lives in the Detroit area was featured in an article on parent coaching in January's Metro Parent. (Available from the PCI as a 6.5 MB Acrobat PDF document.) Cathy Cassini Adams, PCI Certified Parent Coach® of Chicago wrote a beautiful essay for February's issue of Chicago Parent, "One Deep Breath Can Change an Outcome: Taming Tantrums When Mom's Frustrated, Too." Karen Bierdeman, PCI Certified Parent Coach® of Olympia, Washington was featured in a recent article in The Olympian newspaper, "Parenting Doesn't Have to Include Guilt." 
The Vital Five: Parenting Well in a Screen-Machine World
Especially For Parents and Professionals Working with Families
When: Saturday, February 28, 2009
Fee:
$35.00 for individuals;
Registration deadline: Feb. 25, 2009.
Back issues of Parent Express are available on the PCI Web site. There you can read articles by Gloria DeGaetano and PCI Certified Parent Coaches®, and easily send past issues to friends and colleagues via e-mail.
"Gloria, I just wanted to let you know how excited and challenged I am by the course materials and the course work…I'm in awe of the depth and value of the work that was invested in putting together this extensive curriculum for the training. As I go through the materials for the course, your commitment and dedication to the vision and goals I share with you are evident and clearly emerge through the pages. I want you to know that I truly feel privileged to be part of the PCI community. Thanks for the opportunity." "Gloria DeGaetano is a model of someone who is inner directed and other focused. She has built a very productive community through the PCI. She listens deeply and affirms warmly. She models the PCI principles with every breath. She has me engaged and committed to parent coaching just as she has many more doing the same. She has enacted the journey of collective fulfillment through the PCI. She is the model of moral power I want to emulate. Gloria makes each of us feel needed and valued. She models acceptance and rigor. She values competence and accountability."
—Dede Barnes
Cottonwood, California |
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This issue of Parent Express was originally published February 19, 2009. Some content, contact information, and links may be out of date, and the conversion from the original email edition may introduce formatting inconsistencies.
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