Author Dr. Catherine Steiner-Adair Presents at Speakers Bureau Event

 

On Thursday, April 10, St. Bernard’s was proud to have Dr. Catherine Steiner-Adair as a guest of its Speakers Bureau to discuss her book, The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age, which attempts to address the issues faced by families grappling with the pervasiveness of technology in society.

Do you constantly check your e-mail at the dinner table?  Does your child “tune out” when video games are turned on?  It’s not only you; Steiner-Adair effectively described how we are losing our ability to verbally communicate as families, specifically, and as a society, in general, while electronic communication is becoming easier every day.  A simple text can be misconstrued as the recipient is unable to hear the inflection of the sender’s voice; take the word “sorry,” for example.  Did the sender intend for the word to be read honestly, sarcastically, or emphatically?  Absent of a social cue or verbal tone, there are too many conflicting possibilities for the recipient to properly interpret the sender’s intention, and this, Steiner-Adair argues, is leading to troubling developmental problems for children who require social and verbal reinforcement to learn basic communication.

How many times a day do you tell your children you are “just checking” your e-mail or prioritize an incoming text while they are telling you a story or relying on positive, parental engagement for their basic developmental needs?  Steiner-Adair’s research has shown that this leads to children feeling unimportant and disconnected to their parents.

The Big Disconnect is an eye-opening book that has proven appeal in the St. Bernard’s community.  Twenty-eight copies sold out at the event, leaving a dozen parents wanting a copy.  For those parents and the rest of you eager to read this engaging--and frequently disturbing--book, it will be sold at the St. Bernard’s Book Fair on May 13 and 14.