Dopamine Kids

The next book from internationally bestselling author of Hunt, Gather, Parent If you’re having trouble managing your child’s screen time or diet, it’s not you. It’s your environment. Devices and foods in our lives today don’t play by the same neurological rules as they did a decade ago. And parents haven’t been given the information they need to handle these new forces in our lives. Until now. Engineers and app developers have used scientific knowledge of dopamine and how it works in children's brains in order to sell them games, gadgets and screens, and to buy their attention. This book will empower parents with this same scientific knowledge, but instead show them how to use to reinforce other activities, habits and lifestyle choices that are more positive, healthy and productive. This book explains how shifting your child’s behaviour isn’t about teaching them will power or setting strict limits, but rather about understanding and harnessing the power of dopamine. Through four steps, it’ll demonstrate how to weaken neurological pathways established by devices and ultra-processed foods, and then how to create new pathways that lead children to want high-quality activities – ones that genuinely fulfil their biological and emotional needs, whilst giving your child a 21st-century superpower: the ability to concentrate on challenging tasks for extended periods of time, without distraction. As the author puts it ‘For the first time in history, children experience frequent surges of dopamine inside a critical region of their brains involved with motivation and habit formation. Much of what you’ve heard about these surges is outdated or misleading. No, dopamine isn’t the molecule of happiness. And it doesn’t give children pleasure. These myths actually amplify the problem, making it harder for you and your children to form high-quality and healthy habits.’