It seems that in todays society childhood is being put on the back burner in favor of growing up to quickly. A recent study (I don't know which one and I don't remember where I read it) found that due to all the "stimulants" children these days recieve our brains are wired completely different than children of the past. Parents see the television as a babysitter and don't see it necessary to teach them important skills required to succeed in life. If i ever have children they are going to get strictly educational toys and the only TV they will watch will be The Discovery Channel. It just seems ridiculous to me. Most TV does not engage the children, it just socially stunts them. We are heading for a world of people who wont be able to communicate with each other.
Also, they have now banned Tag in a few school districts. This is because it is "detrimental to the childs mental health if he/she is constantly it." Yes, and it also makes the children complete sissys. Tag is probably one of the least violent childrens games out there, and yes, there is the possibility of getting hurt but these are KIDS. Kids get hurt. They fall down. They need to learn to cope with that. If children are protected at that level at all times then they will never be able to think for themselves. Kids need to learn how to get hurt and take it, they need to learn how to lose gracefully. It's part of the process of being a human being.
I was only a little thing not to long ago, but already my entire childhood has been ripped apart and discredited. No more Pluto (which will ALWAYS be a planet to me, and my favorite one at that), no more Tag, no more hand drawn Disney movies, no more co-ed classrooms. The last one, I can understand that, but also kids need to learn how to deal with the opposite sex. They're going to go to college and just be... I don't even want to think about it. Can you imagine going somewhere and all the sudden the opposite sex is there? After all the time they weren't? Crazy.
I'm going to end this with a WTF? kind of thing. Have you heard about the energy drink marketed towards "teenagers" called Cocaine? That's the last thing we need. Middle schoolers thinking they're even cooler because they're drinking something called cocaine. Let's see how cool they think they are when they actually OD on the real stuff. Who in their right mind would come up with a product like that, and which genius decided it was a GOOD idea? Annnd, how about the little stripper pole for kids? Yep, it comes with a garter belt and fake money too. So not only are we traching children to romanticize drugs, but let's teach them to be a stripper too. the smartness of people never ceases to amaze me (and yes, I do know that smartness isn't a word).
You make some very good points. "Childhood" isn't at all like it used to be, and they're trying to take it away any even more--there was a recent Newsweek article about how we're pushing preschoolers to do kindergarten work, kindergarteners get to do first grade work, there's no more play time, or nap time, or creativity--just which little kid is smarter, who's going to get ahead. It's terrible.
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~I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.~
Yeah, my brother is in second grade and the work he does is crazy. I think that kids should be kids. Yeah, they should be learning, but they need the time to be creative too. Albert Einstein said it best "Imagination is more important than knowledge."
i do think that cocaine was the stupidest name that the creaters could have come up with. cocaine is not cool. and i thought society was doing better at teaching kids that drugs aren't cool.
on the t.v. thing, i don't think t.v. should be the main teacher for kids but it can be a teacher. there's nothing wrong with kids watching dora the explorer and learning a few spanish words.
Dora is one thing, but Sponge Bob and Fairly Odd Parents and shows like that is completely different. I swear, everytime I'm in the room while one of those shows is playing I lose brain cells. I think the worst shows we had were like, The Rugrats and Ren and Stimpy.
I agree with your last paragragh but not the rest. Children are growing up faster but this is good. They are becoming aware faster. I personaly grew up on T.V. I watched more then anything else and I'm not socially stunted. I have dozens of friends, I concider myself a very outgoing person. I also read an article in Time magazine ( I forget what issue) that said T.V. is becoming more complex, with multiple story lines, acctually making childrens minds develop faster. I believe the example they used was The Simpsons. -Candie
The bad thing about children growing up faster is when that's all people care about, getting the children aware faster, and they don't have time at all to be kids anymore. When it's taken to extremes, it does take away childhood, and that is not a good thing.
I think I'd heard that before, about complex story lines meaning tv has SOME positive impact--but if the subject matter and the content of the plot is still stupid, children who live on nothing but those tv shows are still going to grow up stupid.
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~I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.~
I'm not saying kids should skip school and watch The Simpsons, I'm just saying it's not all bad. Kids grow up fast, it's part of being a kid. Wanting to grow up as fast as possible. Kids don't know they are rushing through a great time in thier lives. So let them have fun while they are young. And having fun is watching cartoons (even if they are stupid to you) and playing with friends. Don't make it all the discovery channel that will stunt your kids social skills as fast as too much T.V..-Candie
Ok, I see your point there are so many kids that all they do is watch cartoons and play video games. Both of these things are perfectly harmless in small amounts but some people over do it. And there are plenty of cartoons on the Discovery Channel.
Ok...hours and hours of TV may be detrimental...but a few hours a day is ok in my opinion...what is worse is the amount of caffeine our kids are consuming...and with 280 mg of caffeine in a Cocaine Energy Drink I just shiver to think of the consequences on our children!
I believe in developing and educating my children with constantly stimulating their brain. I try feeding them as much "useful" information about the world through books and educational toys. They have a lot to do during the day and their schedule is packed with many different toddler activities. My two children 3 and 5 years watch TV twice a week - one time Disney movie or cartoon and the second one hour of Animal Planet.
They grow healthy, happy and smart.
Thats a tight schedule for such young children. Always learning something. How is that not pushing them? Do they have any just fun toys or all educational? What is enough stimulation and what is too much?
-Candie
There are plenty of toys out there that are fun and educational. Being a child is about always learning something.