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New York Post
13-05-2025
- New York Post
Teacher reveals why she's quitting on her students: ‘I don't really have faith in some of these kids'
It's tech'ing a toll on tots, tweens and teens. ChatGPT, artificial intelligence that's emerging as a useful resource, is 'ruining' childhood education, so says a ticked-off teacher, who's leaving the classroom for good. 'Technology is directly contributing to the literacy decrease we are seeing in this country right now,' huffed Hannah Maria, an outgoing 10th-grade English teacher, in viral TikTok vid, announcing her exit from the profession. Maria's TikTok account is now private, but footage of her tirade is currently trending on X. 7 Hannah Maria, a soon-to-be ex-high school English teacher, blames technology for zapping away children's interest in learning. – Describing herself as an 'older Gen Z,' the 20-something explained that middle and high school students in her district are issued iPads at the beginning of each academic year. But rather than serving as educational tools for the youngsters, Maria claims the AI-dense devices have become a crutch. 'A lot of these kids don't know how to read because they've had things read to them or they can click a button and have things read out loud to them in seconds,' she griped. 'Their attention spans are weaning because everything is high-stimulation and they can just scroll [away from something] in less than a minute. They can't sit still for very long.' And what the teacher's saying adds up. 7 Nationwide test results show a steep decline in reading proficiency for kids under age 18. EFStock – Damning results from a recent National Assessment of Educational Progress test revealed the lowest level of reading proficiency for early adolescents in 32 years. The findings also highlighted that at least a third of America's students failed to demonstrate 'basic' reading skills expected for their age group. Analysts from the Seattle Children's Research Institute, too, found that students ages 13 to 18 tend to spend upwards of six hours scrolling on their devices during the school day, rather than focusing on their studies. 7 Maria claims the burnout and frustration she's experienced while teaching AI-dependent 10th graders has practically contributed to her decision to leave education. LincB – 7 Maria claims that kids are indifferent towards learning because they've grown accustomed to letting artificial intelligence do their schoolwork. Diego – 7 Rather than giving students iPads for learning, Maria suggests school districts revert to textbooks and workbooks. David Fuentes – Maria attributes her departure from education, in part, to a lack of intervention from the powers that be. 'Look at the test scores and the statistics and the literacy rates from when students didn't use technology to now,' she begged the learning authorities, noting that her teenage students throw tantrums when tasked with hand-writing a few paragraphs. Instead of picking up a pen or pencil, the rising generations prefer tapping ChatGPT to get the simple job done. 7 A whistleblower, Maria believes kids 'don't care' to learn the fundamentals of education or how to make an impact on the world, due to their obsession with ChatGPT. WavebreakMediaMicro – 'These kids don't even care,' Maria moaned of children's aloofness towards reading comprehension, language arts, history and mathematics. Aloofness, she believes, is born out of their imbalanced dependence on technology. 'They don't care about making a difference in the world,' she continued, emphasizing that many of her pupils are failing in school and in life. 'They don't care about [writing] a resume or cover letter because ChatGPT will do it for them.' 7 Maria begs leaders in education to ban AI and smart-devices from tots, tweens and teens until they're college-aged. Erzsbet – 'We're at the point where I don't really have faith in some of these kids that I teach,' said a teary Maria, imploring decision makers to make changes in school systems. 'There's noting wrong with using your budget on textbooks and workbooks,' she assured the higher-ups. 'We've got to start getting rid of the technology, and bringing back the things that worked.' 'We need to cut off technology from these kids,' said Maria, 'probably until they go to college.'
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Children's ADHD risk linked to mothers' use of common OTC pain reliever
Children could face a higher risk of developing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) if their mothers took acetaminophen — a common pain reliever and fever reducer — during pregnancy, researchers have found. The study, which has sparked new discussions about the controversial topic, was recently published in the journal Nature Mental Health. "Compared with no exposure, detection of acetaminophen in maternal blood during pregnancy was linked with three times the likelihood of the child developing ADHD," lead author Brennan Baker, a researcher at Seattle Children's Research Institute, told Fox News Digital. 7 Signs You Might Have Adhd And What Steps To Take To gather the data, researchers took blood samples from 307 Black women during their second trimester of pregnancy, then tested for markers of the fever-reducing medication. They also sampled the mothers' placentas after delivery to look for signs of increased inflammation in those exposed to acetaminophen. Read On The Fox News App (Previous studies have linked elevated inflammatory and immune responses during pregnancy with adverse neurodevelopment in children, Baker noted.) Adhd Affects 1 In 9 Kids In Us, New Report Reveals Researchers then followed up with the children at 8 to 10 years of age to determine how many had been diagnosed with ADHD, then determined whether prenatal exposure to acetaminophen was linked with a higher likelihood of the disorder. The researchers also found DNA changes related to immune system pathways in the placentas that were exposed to acetaminophen, which was linked to a higher chance of children developing ADHD. "This indicates that disruptions to the immune system could be a mechanism linking this exposure with child neurodevelopment," Baker said. Dr. Ryan Sultan, an attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and director of the Mental Health Informatics Lab at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, said the study's findings are both "important and concerning." "What this study does well is push us closer to understanding modifiable prenatal risk factors," Sultan, who was not involved in the research, told Fox News Digital. While the study adds to the growing consensus that acetaminophen is not risk-free, that doesn't mean pregnant women can't take Tylenol or other medications containing acetaminophen, experts told Fox News Digital. "When possible, it should be used sparingly and only when medically necessary during pregnancy," Sultan advised. There is a conflicting body of research on the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy and the risk of adverse neurodevelopment. Click Here To Sign Up For Our Health Newsletter For example, a recent study of nearly 2.5 million Swedish children last year found no increased risk of autism, ADHD or intellectual disability among siblings who were exposed to the pain medication before birth. A nationwide study in Taiwan, however, found that the use of acetaminophen in pregnancy increased the development of ADHD in offspring, regardless of whether the mothers had mental health disorders. Many prior studies have relied on mothers' self-reporting – which underestimates use, as many people take acetaminophen without knowing it, according to Baker. Sultan cautioned that the study has some limitations. Its sample size was small, the population was limited to Black mothers in the South, and exposure to acetaminophen was measured only at a single point in time, he noted. Another major limitation is the study design, as it cannot prove that acetaminophen use causes ADHD. "We can never be 100% sure that an association is causal in an observational study like this, as there can always be unknown confounding factors," Baker told Fox News Digital. "We tried to control for as many factors as possible, including family history of mental health conditions, maternal use of antibiotics, maternal use of other drugs used for pain/fever, socioeconomic status of the family, and prenatal tobacco and alcohol exposure," he added. While the researchers may have identified a possible risk for ADHD, the mental health condition is a "complex, multifactorial deficit in executive functioning" that can manifest in a variety of ways, according to Dr. Lama Bazzi, a psychiatrist in private practice in New York City. There are approximately six million pregnancies every year and 80% of women take at least one medication for a health problem diagnosed before or during pregnancy, according to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. The majority of women take acetaminophen at some point during pregnancy, with more use among those with anxiety and depression, according to past research. For more Health articles, visit ADHD is one of the most common mental health conditions during childhood, according to the American Psychiatric Association. The study was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health. Fox News Digital reached out to manufacturers of medications containing acetaminophen for article source: Children's ADHD risk linked to mothers' use of common OTC pain reliever
Fox News
27-03-2025
- Health
- Fox News
Children's ADHD risk linked to mothers' use of common OTC pain reliever
Children could face a higher risk of developing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) if their mothers took acetaminophen — a common pain reliever and fever reducer — during pregnancy, researchers have found. The study, which has sparked new discussions about the controversial topic, was recently published in the journal Nature Mental Health. "Compared with no exposure, detection of acetaminophen in maternal blood during pregnancy was linked with three times the likelihood of the child developing ADHD," lead author Brennan Baker, a researcher at Seattle Children's Research Institute, told Fox News Digital. To gather the data, researchers took blood samples from 307 Black women during their second trimester of pregnancy, then tested for markers of the fever-reducing medication. They also sampled the mothers' placentas after delivery to look for signs of increased inflammation in those exposed to acetaminophen. (Previous studies have linked elevated inflammatory and immune responses during pregnancy with adverse neurodevelopment in children, Baker noted.) Researchers then followed up with the children at 8 to 10 years of age to determine how many had been diagnosed with ADHD, then determined whether prenatal exposure to acetaminophen was linked with a higher likelihood of the disorder. The researchers also found DNA changes related to immune system pathways in the placentas that were exposed to acetaminophen, which was linked to a higher chance of children developing ADHD. "What this study does well is push us closer to understanding modifiable prenatal risk factors." "This indicates that disruptions to the immune system could be a mechanism linking this exposure with child neurodevelopment," Baker said. Dr. Ryan Sultan, an attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and director of the Mental Health Informatics Lab at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, said the study's findings are both "important and concerning." "What this study does well is push us closer to understanding modifiable prenatal risk factors," Sultan, who was not involved in the research, told Fox News Digital. While the study adds to the growing consensus that acetaminophen is not risk-free, that doesn't mean pregnant women can't take Tylenol or other medications containing acetaminophen, experts told Fox News Digital. "When possible, it should be used sparingly and only when medically necessary during pregnancy," Sultan advised. There is a conflicting body of research on the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy and the risk of adverse neurodevelopment. For example, a recent study of nearly 2.5 million Swedish children last year found no increased risk of autism, ADHD or intellectual disability among siblings who were exposed to the pain medication before birth. A nationwide study in Taiwan, however, found that the use of acetaminophen in pregnancy increased the development of ADHD in offspring, regardless of whether the mothers had mental health disorders. Many prior studies have relied on mothers' self-reporting – which underestimates use, as many people take acetaminophen without knowing it, according to Baker. Sultan cautioned that the study has some limitations. Its sample size was small, the population was limited to Black mothers in the South, and exposure to acetaminophen was measured only at a single point in time, he noted. Another major limitation is the study design, as it cannot prove that acetaminophen use causes ADHD. "We can never be 100% sure that an association is causal in an observational study like this, as there can always be unknown confounding factors," Baker told Fox News Digital. "We tried to control for as many factors as possible, including family history of mental health conditions, maternal use of antibiotics, maternal use of other drugs used for pain/fever, socioeconomic status of the family, and prenatal tobacco and alcohol exposure," he added. While the researchers may have identified a possible risk for ADHD, the mental health condition is a "complex, multifactorial deficit in executive functioning" that can manifest in a variety of ways, according to Dr. Lama Bazzi, a psychiatrist in private practice in New York City. "We can never be 100% sure that an association is causal in an observational study like this." There are approximately six million pregnancies every year and 80% of women take at least one medication for a health problem diagnosed before or during pregnancy, according to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. The majority of women take acetaminophen at some point during pregnancy, with more use among those with anxiety and depression, according to past research. For more Health articles, visit ADHD is one of the most common mental health conditions during childhood, according to the American Psychiatric Association. The study was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health. Fox News Digital reached out to manufacturers of medications containing acetaminophen for comment.
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Taking this super common over-the-counter drug while pregnant has been linked to ADHD in kids
Expectant mothers might want to think twice the next time they're in the pharmacy. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is a common behavioral condition that affects approximately 7 million US children, including about a million kids diagnosed since 2016. The reason for the recent rise in diagnoses is under debate — a new study in the journal Nature Mental Health suggests the culprit could be in your medicine cabinet. Researchers analyzed blood samples from 307 pregnant women between 2006 and 2011 and found that children born to mothers who used acetaminophen during pregnancy had an 18% prevalence of ADHD, compared to 9% in children whose mothers did not take the popular over-the-counter pain reliever. Notably, the likelihood of an ADHD diagnosis was more than three times greater in children whose mothers had detectable acetaminophen levels in their blood. Even more remarkable is that daughters were six times more likely to develop ADHD if the mom used acetaminophen during pregnancy, while the effect was less pronounced among sons. Acetaminophen treats fevers, headaches, muscle aches and menstrual cramps. It's the primary active ingredient in Tylenol, which is commonly prescribed to expectant mothers to relieve discomfort. An estimated 40% to 60% of pregnant women take Tylenol at some point in their pregnancy. While the drug is considered generally safe to use during pregnancy, lead study author Brennan Baker, a researcher at Seattle Children's Research Institute, noted that previous research relied on self-reported data, which may not accurately reflect acetaminophen use. 'This medication was also approved decades ago and may need reevaluation by the FDA,' said co-author Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana, a pediatrician at SCRI. 'Acetaminophen was never evaluated for fetal exposures in relation to long-term neurodevelopmental impacts.' Previous research on the potential link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and ADHD has produced mixed results. For instance, a large Swedish study found no correlation, while Norwegian research did identify a connection. In 2015, the US Food and Drug Administration said studies on the safety of using Tylenol while pregnant were 'too limited to make any recommendations.' But the agency recommended that pregnant women seek advice from their doctor before taking Tylenol. 'Because of this uncertainty, the use of pain medicines during pregnancy should be carefully considered,' the FDA statement said. 'We urge pregnant women to always discuss all medicines with their health care professionals before using them.'
Arab Times
05-02-2025
- Health
- Arab Times
Study unveils alarming smartphone use among kids during school time
NEW YORK, Feb 5: As discussions about banning phones in schools intensify, a new study has revealed that the average teenager spends a quarter of their school day scrolling on their smartphones. Research conducted by the Seattle Children's Research Institute found that adolescents aged 13 to 18 spend an average of 1½ hours on their phones during a 6½-hour school day. Public health and pediatric scientists conducted the study to gain insights not only into overall screen time but also into the specific duration and content of smartphone usage, particularly during school hours. Senior author Lauren Hale, a public health researcher and mother of two middle schoolers, expressed concern over how phone use is impacting both learning and in-person social opportunities for students. 'School hours are precious,' she said in a statement. The study involved nearly 300 participants who took part in a 15-minute smartphone-based survey, using the RealityMeter app to track their phone usage. After analyzing the data, the researchers narrowed the sample to 117 adolescents who used their phones during at least two school days per week. The results showed that while teens averaged 1½ hours of smartphone use during school, over 25% of them spent more than two hours on their phones each day. In terms of activity, teens primarily used their phones for general internet browsing, text messaging, Instagram, video streaming, audio, and email. These findings were published in a research letter in JAMA Pediatrics titled 'Adolescent Smartphone Use During School Hours.' The researchers emphasized the need for more studies with larger sample sizes to better reflect the broader adolescent population. Hale noted that much of the existing research relies on self-reported data, but this study provided more objective insights into smartphone use, allowing for a better understanding of when and how smartphones are used in school. The study comes at a time when there is growing momentum to ban smartphones in schools. New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently released a report titled 'More Learning, Less Scrolling,' which aims to address the issue of smartphone distraction in classrooms. The proposed ban would take effect next school year, requiring public and charter school students to refrain from using 'internet-enabled devices' during school hours.
