From the ArcaMax Publishing, Parents Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/parents/s-6136-872708
There are millions of young children in this country who are being
horribly mistreated by their parents.
These parents aren't physically abusing their young children, and they
may not even know that they're mistreating them.
The mistreatment?
Millions of kids under the age of two are watching TV in this country.
In fact, according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation of over
1,000 parents, about 65% of kids under age two are watching TV, and
they're averaging over two hours of watching a day.
They're watching even though the American Academy of Pediatrics
recommends no TV for kids under age two. They're watching even though
this is a crucial period for their cognitive development, at an age
when their brains are still being formed.
And the news for these kids just got worse.
Scientists at Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center in Seattle
who studied over 2,500 children found a link between early TV watching
and attention problems at a later age. Specifically, the chances of
one and three-year-old kids developing attention problems at age seven
increased by 10% for every hour of TV watched each day.
The information from these two studies creates a chilling picture of
what's happening to millions of toddlers in this country. It's unfair,
immoral, and unjust, and it needs to be addressed.
But you won't see an outcry from the mass media giants in this
country. You see, we live in the country where "Why TV is Good for
Kids" appeared as the cover story in Newsweek Magazine in 2002. The
same Newsweek Magazine that's owned by the Washington Post Company,
which owns a sprawling cable company and six broadcast stations around
the country.
No, you won't hear too much about these important studies from the
Time-Warners of the world. Bad for business, you see.
But if you're the parent of a young child, you need to know this
information.
There are about nine million children who take prescription medication
for ADHD in this country. The number of kids who take ADHD medication
has been doubling every two years. And while TV certainly isn't the
culprit in all of these cases, the link between the number of
attention problems and the amount of TV watched is undeniable.
The days of the "harmless" argument for TV and kids needs to be put to
rest. Parents need to be educated about the very real possibility of
causing future attention problems with their kids. And young kids
across this country need to be given a fighting chance.
About the author: Author Mark Brandenburg, MA, CPCC, is a
certified personal and business coach, husband, and the father of two
children. He is a coach to men who want to have more effective, loving
relationships with their family. He conducts classes for fathers as
well as providing individual coaching. Mark has a Masters degree in
counseling psychology and is a former world-ranked tennis
professional. For a twenty-minute complimentary session, e-mail him at
mark@markbrandenburg.com.
Click here to
purchase "25 Secrets of Emotionally Intelligent Fathers." Or copy and
paste into your browser window the following link:
http://hop.clickbank.net/?arcamax/orville85