Tobacco and alcohol

Being addicted to tobacco or alcohol is a real phenomenon in society, a problem that is too often minimized because cigarettes and alcohol are finally available over the counter in every store or bookstore. So why would it be dangerous?

Is today's society really aware of the risks of addiction? Is the population sufficiently educated to understand the dangers of daily consumption of both cigarettes and alcohol? Life is becoming more and more demanding, both at the family and professional levels, to the point where burnouts and parental depression are now more and more common and even sometimes trivialized.

Today, many people consciously believe that they can cure their emotions with these soft drugs that are made available to them. Ending the day with a drink and a cigarette may feel good to some people, but there is a danger when cravings take precedence over pleasure.

The digital

In recent years, being addicted to screens is a new social phenomenon. Our young people are more and more in front of a tablet, a television and sometimes on the parents' phones where various games - educational or not - are installed. Young people who have never touched this type of screen are now rare. But can we really do otherwise? Can we really isolate these children 100% from the screens that are so harmful to their development?

Of course, as with any health principle, fairness must be considered.

Leaving a 3 year old child for 1 hour on a smartphone is not a healthy idea for his brain development. Unfortunately, today's youngest think that a smartphone or tablet is a toy. So how can they be banned?

Today, computer screens, televisions and telephones have totally changed our lives and our access to each other. Communication is facilitated, exchanges seem simpler and freer because finally, it is always easier behind the screen. Have you ever observed a group of people on a terrace in summer. Unfortunately, it is now much quieter than it used to be because words are no longer spoken because they prefer to be written on a keyboard. A sad truth that seems normal by some generations.

The screens lock us in an unreal world that is harmful to our evolution.

In fact, our brains develop less, if at all, when subjected to constant attention from using a smartphone, computer or television. Moreover, never at rest, the brain is exhausted much faster by this vigilance that keeps us alert. No wonder we live in a society of chronically tired people in the exhaustion phase.

Healthy eating, sports and personal development are at their peak in 2018 but what's the point if, in the end, everything is altered by this misuse that enrages the process of well-being.

Therefore, it is not surprising that depression is on the rise and that people are becoming increasingly isolated. Indeed, having 600 or 1000 friends on Facebook does not make us sociable people... It can sometimes be the opposite and express a deep loneliness.

How can we help our children in their quest for positive development?

• Recover a taste for play like before: Go outside to play, offer them board games, draw, collage and offer them games that could boost their creativity (constructions, etc.)
• Limit screen time to a few hours per week depending on age. A growing child who spends too much time on screens is likely to experience the consequences on his schooling and social development.
• Teach children patience because it is ultimately in restaurants and waiting rooms that parents' phones are passed on to younger children. Waiting is also part of a life learning, an education that is becoming more and more complicated by the day.

In 2018, the world locks itself into addictions to feel alive, to isolate itself from life's problems and to find balance and harmony that is ultimately very destructive.