From the Times Online September 12, 2006

'Children are being poisoned by modern life'
By Times Online and agencies

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2353701,00.html

Childhood is being poisoned by a dangerous combination of junk food, marketing and video games, experts warned today.

A group of 110 eminent teachers, psychologists, children’s authors and other experts have written to a newspaper urging the Government to act, warning that the demands and restrictions of the modern world are denying children the opportunity to grow up at their own pace.

The group includes Jacqueline Wilson, the children’s laureate, Philip Pullman, a celebrated writer, Baroness Susan Greenfield, the director of the Royal Institution and Dr Penelope Leach, a child care expert.

They write: "We are deeply concerned at the escalating incidence of childhood depression and children’s behavioural and developmental conditions.

"Since children’s brains are still developing, they cannot adjust as full-grown adults can, to the effects of ever more rapid technological and cultural change.

"They need what developing human beings have always needed, including real food (as opposed to processed "junk"), real play (as opposed to sedentary, screen based entertainment), first hand experience of the world they live in and regular interaction with the real-life significant adults in their lives.

"They also need time. In a fast-moving, hyper-competitive culture, today’s children are expected to cope with an ever-earlier start to formal schoolwork and an overly academic test-driven primary curriculum."

It concludes by calling for a public debate on child-rearing in the 21st century.

The letter to the Daily Telegraph was circulated by Sue Palmer, a former head teacher and author of the book Toxic Childhood, and Dr Richard House, senior lecturer at the Research Centre for Therapeutic Education at Roehampton University.

Mrs Palmer cited research by Professor Michael Shayer at King’s College, London, which showed that 11-year-olds measured in cognitive tests were "on average between two and three years behind where they were 15 years ago".

She said: "It is like this giant elephant in all our living rooms, the fact that children’s development is being drastically affected by the kind of world they are brought up in.

"I think it is shocking. We must make a public statement - a child’s physical and psychological growth cannot be accelerated. Childhood is not a race."

Other signatories include environmental campaigner Sir Jonathon Porritt, Professor Tim Brighouse, the Commissioner for London Schools, and Sir Richard Bowlby, President of the Centre for Child Mental Health.

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FEARFUL CHILDREN AS THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR BEGINS!

I read this article with great interest and completely agree with it. I have a 7 and 4 year old. My 7 year old has just started a new year in the junior school and my youngest is just starting his schooling life....

Unfortunately my 7 year olds first 2 weeks are not going smoothly as the teachers have a concept of being very scrict and hard on the children for the first few weeks as this sets the boundaries for the rest of the year..... I can understand this from a teachers perspective however not all children respond well to this, including my 7 year old, he is so scared of his teacher he will not even put up his hand to ask her a question as he fears she will think he was not listening in the first place. Having spoken to other parents they too have had the same problems and some children I know are showing signs of stress including painful stomachs, not being able to sleep, tearfulness and bedwetting (which they were not doing before). This is not just at my sons school, I have chatted to parents from other schools and it seems to be a normal practice, even my neighbour who has this year taken on an LSA role to help year 5 children has been told to be really tough for a few weeks.!!

Sorry if this seems like a rant, however children are really suffering out there.... why control through fear? where does respect and learning through fun come into the equation? I think the schools need to re-think as children may become switched off to school and it could create a negative association to learning.

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I agree, we need to address how we are nurturing our children.

It is a subject that I have already thought about and have a dedicated childrens section on my website www.holisticworld.co.uk which contains many products to help children build self esteem, confidence, create a family culture that is rich and full of love, establish healthy eating habits and much much more.

Helping kids to gain a sense of independence, power, self-love and respect along with the knowledge that they can make a difference in the outcome of today’s world makes it easier for kids to make the right choices for themselves.

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I am so glad that people are stepping up and speaking out about this, especially people in the school system. It seems so obvious to me that society is pushing our kids too hard too fast. I hardly ever see children playing outside unless it is an orgianized sport, which is hardly a stress free environment. Schools are making recess times shorter and focusing whole years of education on standardized tests. (I am not saying that standardized test are inherently bad. But shouldn't education be focused on curriculum instead of tests?)

Here in the US, society still needs to learn that longer harder days don't equal more productive days. Maybe if we can "slow down" the children, society as a whole will follow.

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Well...I choose to look at life as a system of 'input'. Some input is less, 'pure' than others, and some is 'more' pure. It depends on the ability of the creature to filter, assimilate, and express the energy triggered by whatever is inputted.

In terms of 'conscious quality of todays maintstream mediums', then it would be effective to agree that it is certainly purposefully directed to produce a non-questioning, controllable child creature.

The family unit can be so effective in demonstrating personality that has standards for information purity.

To quote a favorite quasi-quote, and to make more sense: "The light cannot exist without the tunnel"

If children today are being 'poisoned', then their grandchildren will be ever-more resistant to such forms of poison. The catalysts for change are here. Embrace!

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I Love It!...

Last edited: 1-11-2006 02:43:36 PM

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We were just talking about this yesterday during our Thanksgiving holiday.

When we were young kinds (I'm 36) we played outside.
Just put a bunch of kids together and before you knew it there would be some organized game entertaining all of us.

We don't have video games in our house (my son is 6 daughter 3) and we'll wait a good long while before we do I think. We strictly limit TV watching, but I'd still like to see them playing outside more with kids...trouble is there are not many kids in our neighborhood.

As kids we group up on a military base where the homes and no fences...so the backyards were all connected as "one big back yard" - I think that was great for the kids.

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Change is only going to happen two ways i] from within our own families and ii] by assisting in lobbying and making others aware.

People are so stressed and do not take the time to understand why,yet if they did,they would see how they are reacting to the commercial demands of you must have things today and pay for it tomorrow.This increases work activity to pay for it all which then takes the individual away from family time.Family time is about nurturing everyone which then has a rippling effect on friends and neighbours and so on and so on.
My daughter attended childrens theatre yesterday morning with her friend [we paid] as it is part of the local university.They use minimal props but it does help stretch the childs imagination.We then went out for lunch and discussed it [both children are very bright at aged five being taught computers and science in school].After lunch it was off to the swing park!
It does take effort and time to invest in our children but we do not have to wait long for us to see the benefits.............but we do have to be consistent and maintain our committment.It is this that I see lack of.
All around us there is evidence of where we take away from our children : parents need to work to pay ever spiralling bills because their pay wages do not increase.Lots of attractions be it cinemas, Legoland type parks,restaurants, all cost lots of money yet this is the expectation.But also,houses these days are built with small or galley kitchens because it is recognised families do not eat together.So,then families need fast food within the home environment to accomodate individuals racing in and out to eat.
I am very glad I waited till I was in my thirties to have my child.I could then committ to providing a childhood for my child with part of the decision process to leave the NHS that was not family friendly despite their requirements as many other employers to be seen to be doing it!
My daughter may not know what the latest tv program is on or seen the latest craze advert must have,but she does know many other individuals in her life through many of her social activities,and can hold a conversation with anybody on a wide scale of topics,and has a wonderful sense of humour with a wicked imagination! Her expectation of her friends will be in similiar vein as will her approach to adulthood and life as she will value time and people rather than money and material things.
That is why having a site reinforces what we are about.It is one step forward to being proactive about what is important in our lives,but we need to keep active out there in our pockets of our universe,linked by our shared holistic beliefs.

Warmest regards,
Lavinia

Last edited: 18-03-2007 08:17:16 AM

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This is a very concerning subject.

We have just made the decision to take our daughters (10 and 13) out of formal schooling and "educate" them at home.

They had a very long school day and we had nearly an hour journey each way to school. On top of that they were coming home with up to 2 hours homework a night and being subjected to a lot of things in lessons, that we did not agree with.

We have just had a week's holiday, which we have made into a total educational experience. We talked to the girls about everything we did and they already seem much happier.

Maybe it is down to us, as parents, to take back the responsibility for our children's education. That is not just with formal schooling, it is also with life in general.

Our time with our children is far more valuable and influencial than any computer game ever can be.

Just my two penn'th
With love and abundant blessings
Amanda
www.GetYourDreamLife.com

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The idea which this article seems to suggest... ie that market forces are having an impact on our children ,as if these forces were living through them and destroying the quality of their lives is just some sort of Marxist poppy cock, obviously dreamt up by some 'socialist journalist trouble maker'.

When I was a lad we could of done with a load more exams ...and less wasting our time on playing fields and ' mucking about '. I for one would have far prefered a Mc Donalds to all that ' home cooking'.....yuck!!

The next thing they'll be saying is market forces are responsible for Global Warming!!!

Last edited: 16-04-2007 12:14:40 AM

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I am really surprised at your response John.

Personally I think it is vital that children are allowed to develop at their own pace, rather than being boxed into a system with little room for expression of a childs unique qualities. I have witnessed my child experiences both worlds, and the difference is remarkable.

Last edited: 16-04-2007 09:03:04 AM

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LOL

You get the prize of a McCardboard Happy (?) Meal (?) for funniest response.

About time common sense came to the fore here. Kids shoudl be able to express themselves in whichever way they are supposed to. Let them run free, let them fall over, and let them learn to pick themselves up afterwards. Time in front of a screen sapps their soul. The onus is mainly on the parents to give them a balanced upbringing, to de-program them and infuse them with the confidence to be themselves.

Don't get me started on my 5 year old getting homework........

Last edited: 16-04-2007 09:27:21 AM

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Oh Trinity I never thought it would be you...who took the bait . I was fishing .. .as Devils advocate.... expecting whatever ..shock horror ...or you never know ... God forbid complete agreement !!

On a more serious note we have a tendancy to be outraged when such things affect our children but in treating them as single issues we seperate ourselves from grasping the real forces that throw these things up in the first place ...only to respond yet again as a single issue when another manifestation of the same forces emerges.

We seem to resist the interconnection of these things with the elemental forces which produce them. Until we do that we are doomed to be victims not masters of our destiny.

Am glad to see so many of us care ...and if I had kids I think we would be right there with you.

Things are changing ..I look forward to the critical mass being overwhelming.

I think you spotted me Asif.......

Last edited: 16-04-2007 09:19:43 PM

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Good job I didn't over do it too much then John

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That would have been a laugh

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spotted what?

I thought you were being deadly serious, and I was agreeing!

Do I get a spotters badge then to add to my collection?

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Heres your badge Asif ,,,,,,

Last edited: 16-04-2007 11:25:04 PM

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Is this what we do to our children?
He always wanted to say things but no-one understood. He always wanted to explain things but no-one cared, so he drew.
Sometimes he would just draw and it wasn’t anything. He wanted to carve it in stone or write it in the sky. He would lie out on the grass and look up at the sky and it would be only him and the sky, and the thing inside him that needed saying.
It was after that he drew the picture.
It was a beautiful picture. He would keep it under his pillow and let no-one see it and he would look at it every night and think about it, and when it was dark and his eyes were closed he could still see it and it was all of him and he loved it.
When he started school he bought it with him, not to show anyone but just to have it with him, like a friend.
It was funny about school, he sat in a square brown desk like all the other square brown desks, and he thought it should be red. His room was a square brown room, like all the other rooms, and it was tight and close and stiff. He hated to hold the pencil and the chalk with his arms stiff and his feet flat on the floor, stiff, with the teacher watching and watching.
And then he would write numbers and they weren’t anything, they were worse than the letters that could be something if you put them together, and the numbers were tight and square and he hated the whole thing.
The teacher came and spoke to him, she told him to wear a tie like all the other boys. He said he didn’t like them and she said it didn’t matter.
After that he drew, and he drew all yellow and it was the way he felt about morning and it was beautiful. The teacher came and smiled at him, “what’s this,” she said, “why don’t you draw something like Jimmy’s drawing, isn’t that beautiful?” It was all questions.
After that his mother bought him a tie, and he always drew airplanes and rocketships like everyone else, and he threw the old picture away. And when he lay out, alone, looking at the sky, it was big and beautiful and all of everything and he wasn’t anymore.
He was square inside and brown, and his hands were stiff and he was like everyone else.
And the thing inside him that needed saying, didn’t need saying anymore.

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Children under three should not watch TV - Telegraph article

Very interesting article published this week in th Daily telegraph

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thanks for that trinity... .....these Scientists get there in the end.

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