Research that Benefits Children and Families

I choose to talk about Option 2. If I could imagine myself conducting research on any topic in the early childhood field without any restrictions, I would choose to address the issue of children being misdiagnosed with a hyperactive disorder. I have not done any research on this topic and my wish is not to offend anyone. I state this because in my experience in working with some three to five year olds, I am saddened when I find out that they have been diagnosed with something that with my day to day interactions with those children, I'd say that they were misdiagnosed. Children are suppose to run around and not sit still all day. Children at this age are finding out about their bodies and find out hw for the first time to run without falling, hopping, hopping on one foot, skipping, to name a few things. It's like if one discovered that adults could fly, but it was forbidden to do so. I bet people would still want to fly even though it was not to be done. For those who would fly  would they then be diagnosed with a hyper active flying disorder. Okay, maybe I chose a silly example but I hope it does justice to my reason of why Id research this topic. I would use children and give them a placebo. I lie to the parents of these children and the children and state that this would relax the child. It is un ethical to keep the truth from the participants but I feel  that some parents justify that their child actions are due to the fact that he/she is ill and not due to their bad parenting skills. These diagnosed children overhear and create mayhem because they now feel they can get away with things since its okay since mommy says that I have a hyper activity disorder. Some parents just need guidance on how to be better role models for their children.  A positive contribution to this would be that children and parents would no longer be lied to and forced to buy medications by medical reps and would know that they just need to work it out as a family with the help of early childhood professionals. As in all, not to feed crap medications to children at such an early age.

My Personal Research Journey

As I reflect on a general topic in early childhood that interest me, I am going to focus on the importance of integrating electronic devices within the classroom. I know that this is already being done but I feel not as much.  My experience in working in several preschools is that the only means of introducing children to technology is by having two or three computers in the classroom. I see young children outside of school using tablets, smart phones, and ipads. I have also worked with families that still do not have the resources to obtain those devices and children should be able to work with touch screens. When they are old enough to go into the workforce, technology will be a must in mostly every field.  An example is when children play with blocks, teachers state that the child is developing skills that one day will prepare him or her to become an architect or builder. That child should also be introduce to a touch screen device where they can create three dimensional vies of what they build. If that child does indeed become that architect or builder, they would be already experienced in working with devices that the field would require to get the job done. In selecting a topic that has not yet been researched is hard for me to do and I hope I can further narrow down this topic. Does anyone know of any research articles that discuss this already? I would appreciate any feedback as well.