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Researchers warn against too much computer time for preschoolers Amanda Cunningham started her daughter on computers at 21/2 with "Reader Rabbit" software and Web sites such as Sesame Street. Like any parent, she was proud Madeline could master the mouse so young. But Cunningham soon realized Madeline, now 4, wasn't really learning anything. She just kept clicking, dragging and playing the same games over and over. Now, she's in no rush to get her son, Liam, 1, on computers or the Internet.
"I just don't see an advantage [to] starting early," said Cunningham, a former teacher who now creates reading software for elementary schools.
There's no shortage of sites and software aimed at very young children and even toddlers. Noggin.com has games and virtual coloring books for preschoolers. A Crayola licensee makes handheld video games, including one in which kids race in a crayon-shaped car, for 3 and up. KidzMouse Inc. makes computer mice for small hands. But there's growing debate over whether children should be exposed to technology so early. Some parents and scholars see no benefit, and a handful even warn of a hindrance to child development.
"Mental ability is gained from manipulating the three-dimensional world at that age and [from] managing your own mind and not having it managed by an electronic machine," said Jane M. Healy, author of "Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children's Mind."
Healy said computers took children away from other developmental activities more appropriate for their brains and could "easily become a habit for both parent and child."
According to a 2003 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 31 percent of children 3 and younger are already using computers. Sixteen percent use them several times a week, 21 percent can point and click with a mouse by themselves and 11 percent can turn on the computer without assistance. Healy recommends that children stay off computers until age 7. Others suggest 3 is OK to start. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time before 2, worried youngsters might get discouraged if they talk to a computer monitor and get no response.
David Elkind, professor of child development at Tufts University, is concerned that kids are overdeveloping visual senses at the expense of touch or sound. "Children miss out on all these basic learning experiences if they are so attuned to the virtual world," he said.
Yet some researchers as well as developers of the Web sites and software aimed at young children see nothing wrong with exposing children to technology early -- as long as it's done in moderation.
"Kids need a good balance in their lives and a mix of experiences," said Peter Grunwald, whose consulting firm specializes in children and technology.
In other words, don't force technology on children and don't turn it into a baby sitter while cooking dinner. Through common sense use, Grunwald said, computers can help youngsters develop hand-eye coordination and other skills.
Yong Zhao, a professor of educational psychology at Michigan State University, bought his daughter an iMac before she turned 1 and had her simply bang on the keyboard. Eventually, he said, his daughter picked up on how the banging led to changes on-screen. Young kids should be supervised while surfing the Web anyhow, so early Internet use offers a chance for "spending time with your kids and seeing what they react to," said Regina Lewis, consumer adviser for America Online Inc., which has "KOL Jr." section for ages 2 to 5.
Developers of the children's site Googles.com — not to be confused with the search engine — say their games and songs promote self-esteem. Scholastic Inc. says its Clifford products teach reading and music — not to mention computing.
Others say they can't possibly quell their kids' curiosity for a machine their parents — and older siblings — are using so much.
"The same way that every little kid who's starting to walk goes into the kitchen and takes pans out of the cabinet, they see their parents doing things and they want to do them, too," said Jim Robinson, an advertising executive who created Kneebouncers.com initially for his then-9-month-old daughter. The site — one of a number of so-called lapware for toddlers to toy with on parents' laps — has Flash-animated games with lots of noise and bright colors. Robinson said he got e-mail of thanks from parents of those as young as 5 months old.
Beyond the home, computers are increasingly creeping into day care and preschool environments, in turn pressuring parents to get computers as soon as their child is born, said Peggy Meszaros, director of Virginia Tech's Center for Information Technology Impacts on Children, Youth and Families.
"Parents today are so obsessed with giving children every academic advantage, they've been persuaded that if they wait a minute to introduce children to computers and technology, that somehow their children will be behind," she said.
But if those same parents talked to teachers, they'd learn that kids pick up keyboarding and mouse skills easily even if they wait, said Patricia Cantor, chairwoman of Plymouth State University's education department. More research is needed, proponents and skeptics agree.
"What's happening is the market is proceeding at a faster pace than the research," said Kathryn Montgomery, a communications professor at American University. "It's taken awhile for the academics to reach a point where they are addressing these questions. The marketers ... were clearly on the case 10 years ago."
Anick Jesdanun
27 July 2004
UK: Hospitals blamed as sex disease figures
soar
Soaring rates of sexually transmitted infections must be tackled by
slashing the waiting times for treatment, the government's chief medical
officer will warn this week.
With figures due on Tuesday expected to show another leap in cases of
disease, Professor Sir Liam Donaldson will condemn 'unacceptably long
waits' for treatment in his annual report. He will also call for
measures to combat the spread of infection by identifying hidden cases
of HIV that have previously gone undiagnosed.
David Hinchliffe, chair of the Commons
health select committee, which last year published a chilling report
detailing the sexual health crisis, said yesterday that Britain was
still 'in the dark ages' when it came to sex and needed not just more
treatment but better sex education.
‘People desperately wanting help and advice and treatment are being
turned away in their hundreds every week,’ he told The Observer. ‘But we
were astounded at the complete ignorance of vast numbers of young people
on what we would have thought was basic information in relation to their
own sexual wellbeing. We are frankly still in the dark ages on sexual
health and it's a very worrying scenario.’
Donaldson's report will show that nearly a third of patients with suspect symptoms have to wait more than two weeks for an appointment at specialist genito-urinary medicine (Gum) clinics. In some parts of the country, the committee found the wait was up to two months. Health Secretary John Reid is expected to unveil tougher targets for waiting times at clinics in his public health white paper later this year. Donaldson will also call for action to expose the hidden iceberg of Aids infection, with up to a third of HIV-infected patients in Britain unaware they have the disease. He is expected to say that in future anyone attending a sexual health clinic for the first time with symptoms of any infection should be urged also to have an HIV test.
GPs and clinics should recommend an annual test for gay men, while anyone who repeatedly picks up infections — a sign of frequent unprotected sex — should also be recommended to take the test. However, patients could refuse. Donaldson is concerned that serious infections are being missed when patients attend clinics with the symptoms of other diseases. More than half of gay men with HIV are estimated to leave sexual health clinics undiag nosed, as do more than a third of African-born heterosexuals who are infected with HIV. Experts have long warned that the struggle to get treatment helps to spread infection, as patients too embarrassed - or guilty, if they have been unfaithful — to tell their partners about symptoms continue to have unprotected sex before they can get an appointment.
The past six years have seen a 139 per cent rise in cases of chlamydia, which can cause infertility in women, and a 107 per cent rise in rates of gonorrhoea. Syphilis and genital warts are also on the increase. Anne Weyman, chief executive of the Family Planning Association, called for a full programme of compulsory sex education in the national curriculum, covering not only the disease risk but the nature of relationships.
‘We don't have the education we should have, and there are not enough teachers in secondary schools to provide it properly,’ she said.
Children who learnt about relationships and making decisions as well as basic biology would be better equipped in later life to look after their sexual health, she said: ‘The great majority of parents and children want more sex education, but you have this vociferous minority who are opposed to any provision at all, and who make life very difficult for the schools.’
Last night Andrew Lansley, the Tory shadow health minister, called for a new 1980s-style advertising campaign on sexual diseases, targeting the whole population rather than just high-risk groups such as gay men.
‘You can't reproduce the Eighties campaign, but you do have to influence the population at large: they are still relatively ignorant about the rise in sexually transmitted infections,’ he said.
Gaby Hinsliff and Jo Revill
27 July 2004
Talking to your child about alcohol
More than 54% of the children surveyed in a recent study by the federal
government had tried alcohol by the time they reached eighth grade.
Experts suggest that parents play the most important role in determining
how children handle the temptation to drink alcohol.
In order to help prevent alcohol abuse in children, parents should begin
discussing alcohol use and abuse with their children at an early age and
continue openly communicating throughout their children's development.
Communication Is the Key "Create an atmosphere early on where it is OK to ask questions and where no question is dumb," Linda Quistad-Berg, a consultant with the Minnesota Prevention Resource Center, suggests. "This sets the stage for perhaps more important questions about alcohol later on."
Preschoolers Alcohol education may seem
unnecessary for preschoolers, but the attitudes and habits that are
formed during this stage can greatly influence the decisions children
make later. Although 3- and 4-year-olds are not ready to learn
statistical facts about alcohol or other drugs, they can begin to
develop the decision-making and problem-solving skills they will need
later.
For example, begin to allow your toddler to select what she wants to
wear. Try not to worry if the choices don't quite match. Instead, let
your child know you think she is able to make good decisions. Encourage
her to perform age- appropriate tasks and let her know what a big help
she is.
Ages 4 to 7 Children in this stage still think and learn primarily by experience and they don't have a good understanding of things that will happen in the future. Therefore, discussions about alcohol should be kept in the present and related to people and events your child knows about. Alcohol educators often call those opportunities "teachable moments." For example, watching TV with your child can provide a chance to talk about advertising messages. Ask your child questions about the ads and encourage her to ask questions as well, such as "Do you think drinking beer makes people more popular or good-looking?" Most children at this age are interested in how their bodies work, so this is a good time to talk about maintaining good health and avoiding substances that might harm the body.
Ages 8 to 11 The later elementary school years are crucial in influencing decisions about alcohol use. Children at this age love to learn facts, especially strange ones, and they are eager to learn how things work and what sources of information are available to them. Openly discuss facts about alcohol: the long- and short-term effects and consequences of its use, the effects of alcohol on different parts of the body, and why it's especially dangerous for growing bodies. Friends become very important at this age. A child's interests may be determined by what her group of friends thinks. Teach your child to say "no." Casual discussions about alcohol and friends can take place at the dinner table as part of your normal conversation: "I've been reading about young kids using alcohol. Do you ever hear about kids using alcohol or other drugs in your school?"
Ages 12 to 17 By the time your child is a teenager, she should have learned the facts about alcohol, and she should have been exposed to your attitudes and beliefs about substance abuse. Your aim should be to reinforce what has already been taught and to keep the lines of communication open. During the teen years, your child is more likely to engage in risky behaviors. Her increasing need for independence may make her to want to defy your wishes as a way of asserting her freedom. But the chances of communicating positively with your child increase if she feels that you accept and respect the person she is now: a person who wants to be liked and accepted by her peers and who needs a certain degree of privacy and trust. You can help show your respect by avoiding discipline methods such as excessive preaching and threats.
KidsHealth.org
26 July 2004
Source
Prozac ruled out as suicide risk
Fears that Prozac and Seroxat are more likely to trigger suicidal
behaviour in patients than old-style anti-depressants appear to be
unfounded, scientists say.
A study has shown that risks of self-harm rise in the first month after
starting all types of anti-depressant, but that the drugs themselves are
unlikely to be to blame.
There have been concerns that
anti-depressants may lead to self-destructive thoughts or attempted
suicides. Campaigners have been most concerned about a class of newer
drugs called SSRIs — selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors.
Last year the Government's drugs watchdog warned doctors not to
prescribe most SSRIs to children after studies questioned their
effectiveness and suggested that they might increase the risks of self
harm. Only Prozac escaped the ban.
The new study suggests that some cases of suicidal behaviour may be
explained by the fact that anti-depressants take a few weeks to start
working. During this time a patient may be at increased risk of suicidal
tendencies.
SSRIs increase the availability of the brain chemical serotonin, which
is linked to mood and anxiety.
The American study looked at British
patients taking one of four anti-depressants — Prozac, Seroxat,
amitriptyline and dothiepin. The first two are SSRIs while the others
are tricyclics.
Dr Hershel Jick and colleagues at Boston University, Massachusetts,
found that in the first month after starting treatment the increased
risk of suicidal behaviour was the same for all four drugs.
The researchers wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association: “The risk of suicidal behaviour is increased in the first month after starting anti-depressants.
“The most likely explanation for this finding is that anti-depressant treatment may not be immediately effective, so there is a higher risk of suicidal behaviour in patients newly diagnosed.”
22 July 2004
Source
Children who watch TV ' higher risk'
Children who watch more than two hours of television a night are at
higher risk of becoming smokers or being overweight, unfit, or suffering
from high cholesterol as adults, according to a study.
Watching TV in childhood and adolescence has long been linked to adverse
health indicators, including obesity, poor fitness and raise
cholesterol, but the study published in The Lancet was the first to
track a group from birth to adulthood.
Dr David Ludwig, director of the obesity program at Children's Hospital
in Boston, and Steven Gortmaker, a senior lecturer on sociology at the
Harvard School of Public Health, said the data “indicate that television
viewing in childhood has serious long-term consequences” and “strengthen
the case for a ban on food advertisements aimed at children”.
Researchers from the Dunedin
Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit assessed about
1000 individuals born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1972-73, at regular
intervals until the age of 26. |They investigated the associations
between earlier TV viewing and body-mass index, or BMI,
cardio-respiratory fitness, serum cholesterol, smoking status and blood
pressure.
They found that even an average weeknight viewing of 1-2 hours between
the ages of five and 15 was associated with higher body-mass indices,
lower cardio-respiratory fitness, increased smoking and raised serum
cholesterol.
“These associations persisted after adjustment for potential confounding factors such as childhood socio-economic status, body-mass index at age five years, parental body-mass index, parental smoking and physical activity at age 15 years,” they reported.
“In 26-year-olds, 17 per cent of overweight, 15 per cent of raised serum cholesterol, 17 per cent of smoking and 15 per cent of poor fitness can be attributed to watching television for more than two hours a day during childhood and adolescence.”
The researchers noted that, as in any observational study, “we cannot prove a causal association” between TV viewing and health problems.
“Television viewing might be a marker for some unidentified determinant of adult health, and individuals who have a natural tendency to obesity and poor physical fitness might prefer to watch television than do other activities,” they wrote.
The researchers said several childhood
behaviours — including physical activity and diet — could explain the
association between TV viewing and health. “For example, watching
television could affect fitness and obesity by displacing time which
would otherwise be spent on more active pursuits,” they said, adding
that TV advertising in New Zealand also tended to promote an unhealthy
diet.
The researchers said watching TV might also influence other behaviours,
such as cigarette smoking, “which we found to be significantly
associated with television viewing”.
Although TV advertising of tobacco was
banned in New Zealand before study members were born, programs have
continued to show frequent images of smoking during children's viewing
time, they said. Tobacco sponsorship for sport continued until 1995.
The researchers said that so few study members watched no television
"that we are unable to define a safe limit below which there were no
health effects", but they added that those who watched an hour or less a
day were the healthiest.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents limit their
child's viewing to two hours a day.
“Clearly, obesity is a complex condition, with numerous genetic, environmental and psychosocial contributing factors. However, (this) should not be an excuse for inaction,” Dr Ludwig and Mr Gutmaker wrote.
“Measures to limit television viewing in childhood and ban food advertisements aimed at children are warranted, before another generation is programmed to become obese.”
Sue Leeman
16 July 2004
Source
Cannabis can trigger transient
schizophrenia-like symptoms
The principal active ingredient in marijuana causes transient
schizophrenia-like symptoms ranging from suspiciousness and delusions to
impairments in memory and attention, according to a Yale research study.
Lead author D. Cyril D'Souza, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry at
Yale School of Medicine, said the study was an attempt to clarify a long
known association between cannabis and psychosis in the hopes of finding
another clue about the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
From Yale University:
Study finds cannabis triggers transient schizophrenia-like symptoms
The principal active ingredient in marijuana causes transient
schizophrenia-like symptoms ranging from suspiciousness and delusions to
impairments in memory and attention, according to a Yale research study.
Lead author D. Cyril D'Souza, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry at
Yale School of Medicine, said the study was an attempt to clarify a long
known association between cannabis and psychosis in the hopes of finding
another clue about the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
“'Just as studies with amphetamines and ketamine advanced the notion that brain systems utilizing the chemical messengers dopamine and NMDA receptors may be involved in the pathophysiology in schizophrenia, this study provides some tantalizing support for the hypotheses that the brain receptor system that cannabis acts on may be involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia,” he said. “Clearly, further work is needed to test this hypothesis.”
D'Souza and his co-researchers
administered various doses of delta-9-THC, the main active ingredient in
cannabis, to subjects who were screened for any vulnerability to
schizophrenia. Some subjects developed symptoms resembling those of
schizophrenia that lasted approximately one half hour to one hour. These
symptoms included suspiciousness, unusual thoughts, paranoia, thought
disorder, blunted affect, reduced spontaneity, reduced interaction with
the interviewer, and problems with memory and attention. THC also
induced euphoria and increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
There were no side effects in the study participants one, three and six
months after the study.
The findings of this study go along with several other lines of evidence
that suggest a contribution of cannabis and/or abnormalities in the
brain cannabinoid receptor system to the pathophysiology of
schizophrenia.
13 July 2004
Source
Failing children's eyesight blamed on TV,
computers
Short-sightedness could soon become epidemic among children and young
adults because they spend too much time looking at television screens
and playing computer games.
Research in Australia has discovered that rising myopia does not have
any fundamental genetic cause. Instead a combination of increased time
focusing on close objects, allied to stress, is enough to bring about
long-term changes in children's eyes.
"As kids spend more time on computers or
watching telly, they are going to become myopic," said Ian Morgan, of
the Australian National University in Canberra.
The warning, carried in New Scientist magazine, follows a range of
international studies to try to explain a rising tide of
short-sightedness in several countries. A variety of explanations,
including diet and genetics, have been examined and dismissed. Instead,
lifestyle is overwhelmingly to blame, suggests Dr Morgan.
In Sweden, 50 per cent of children aged 12 now have myopia. The
prediction is that by the time they are 18, the level will have passed
70 per cent.
Myopia is caused when the eyeball grows
too long, meaning that light focuses in front of the retina. It cannot
be cured directly, although it can be corrected either by lenses or by
laser surgery to remove some of the lens, effectively shortening the
eyeball.
The problem is less common in children who play more sport, probably
because they spend less time indoors. Those who read less also tend to
spend more time outdoors, and similarly suffer less from the problem.
The Royal National Institute for the Blind estimates that 12 million
Britons are myopic, 500,000 suffering from "high degree myopia", in
which the eye becomes over-elongated. However, Marek Karas, adviser to
the institute, said: "Myopia is correctable. With the right lenses, you
can be back to normal.
"The trouble is that it can panic parents to hear findings like this. In
Britain our approach is to let people get on with what they're doing and
not try to influence their behaviour."
Genes have been discounted as the cause
of most of the effects. In India, about 10 per cent of 18-year-old men
are myopic. Yet in Singapore, which has a higher standard of living, 70
per cent of 18-year-olds of Indian origin have myopia. Similarly in
Israel, boys studying in schools that insist on close study of religious
texts had 80 per cent myopia rates.
"The simplest explanation is that a massive environmental effect is
swamping out the genetic influence," said Dr Morgan.
12 July 2004
Source
Tantrums lead to obese children
Children who are prone to tantrums and emotional outbursts are more
likely to become overweight - probably because their parents resort to
the age-old method of placating them with sweets or chocolate bars. A
new study from America has shown that the temperament of a child plays a
key role in forming their future shape. By looking at a group of 150
children from the day they were born until they were nine years old,
researchers could see that those who suffered more tantrums were at
greater risk. They also found that the way parents deal with flare-ups,
and their own weight, also played a role.
Writing in the Journal of Paediatrics,
researchers at Stanford University identified those children who were
'highly emotional' as being prone to being overweight.
'Parents faced with an emotional child who has tantrums over food may
feed the child to reduce the frequency of tantrums,' they said.
This means that educating parents on how to deal effectively with a
screaming toddler may both improve their behaviour and reduce the
chances of them becoming tubby.
The study also showed that those with overweight parents were far more
likely to become overweight themselves. Up to 64 per cent of children
with overweight parents were themselves overweight. Of those whose
parents had a healthy weight, just 16 per cent gained too many pounds.
Another factor appears to be sleep patterns. The study found that
children who were overweight slept about 30 fewer minutes each day than
their slimmer counterparts. This is probably because children who do
less in the day are simply less tired at night.
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Health experts are increasingly looking at the way parents behave as an
indication of the child's future health chances. They are keen to see
whether parental counselling courses can teach mothers and fathers to be
consistent in the way they treat their children.
Using food to placate a child who is
behaving badly has long been criticised but is an easy way out for
parents frazzled by tantrums, or embarrassed in restaurants when a child
starts to scream.
Obesity rates in England have tripled in the last 20 years, and it now
costs the country £3.7bn a year. Three-quarters of adults are now
overweight, with 22 per cent of them obese.
Earlier this year MPs called for more help to be made available to
parents, including the introduction of a 'traffic light' system in
stores to mark out healthy and unhealthy foods. Under the system, red
would identify high-energy foods which were high in sugar and fat, amber
would be medium energy and green would identify the healthiest options.
The Co-op supermarket chain already has such a system in place and Tesco
has announced plans to test a similar scheme.
Later this year Health Secretary John Reid will produce a White Paper on Public Health. He said last month: 'We recognise that these issues are not just a matter for government - they involve individuals and the choices they make, as well as the food and leisure industry.'
Jo Revill
12 July 2004
Specialized foster care curbs teen violence
An expert panel is recommending that a specialized form of foster care
be an option for teens who are particularly likely to engage in violent
behavior.
The approach, known as therapeutic foster care, is designed for children
and teens with a history of problem behavior, delinquency or emotional
problems and cannot live at home. It can in some cases serve as an
alternative to group homes, hospitalization or jail.
So far, three studies of therapeutic
foster care have found that teenagers who go through such programs are
substantially less likely to go to jail or be arrested for violent
crimes.
Based on this evidence, the Task Force on Community Preventive Services
— an independent panel appointed by the head of the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — is recommending that therapeutic
foster care be looked at as a way to curb teen violence.
As for younger children, however, the
task force found too little research on whether specialized foster care
reduces violent behavior.
The panel's findings are reported in the CDC's Morbidity & Mortality
Weekly Report.
One of the authors of the report, Dr. Akiva Liberman, a researcher with
the National Institute of Justice in Washington, D.C., explained that
the task force is looking into a number of ways to potentially reduce
youth violence — and based on the evidence, therapeutic foster care
appears "worthy of consideration." |
Such programs temporarily place children with families who have been
trained to help them learn how to manage their emotions, control their
anger and have good relationships with others. Depending on the program,
children may be separated from their normal peer group and closely
supervised at school and elsewhere, or they and their biological
families may receive psychological therapy.
Evidence suggests that therapeutic foster
care is effective largely because it gives kids a strong relationship
with an adult while keeping them away from peers who get them into
trouble.
Among the studies the task force reviewed, one showed that compared with
teens in residential group care, those in therapeutic foster care were
57 percent less likely to end up in jail in the year after the program.
|Another study showed that boys who went through specialized foster care
were 75 percent less likely to be arrested for a violent crime in the
year after the program compared with the year before. For girls, that
figure was 69 percent.
Liberman also pointed to the findings on
cost-effectiveness; while therapeutic foster care is not cheap, he told
Reuters Health, it may save money in the end. One study found that for
every dollar spent on therapeutic foster care, $14 in justice system
costs were saved.
According to the report, therapeutic foster care could help a
"substantial" number of children and teens. In 1999, the authors note,
more than 104,000 juveniles were placed in residential facilities due to
delinquency, many of whom might be eligible for therapeutic foster care.
By Amy Norton
9 July 2004
Risk factors found for violent kids, study
shows
Young, poor mothers more likely to have aggressive children, researchers
say
Canadian researchers say children at high risk of becoming violent
adults can be identified before they are born. Dr. Richard Tremblay, a
professor of pediatrics at the University of Montreal, says he has found
four social and behavioral risk factors that could easily be identified
in pregnant women. Their children are at higher risk of being more
aggressive than most kids — chronic kickers, biters and hitters.
In earlier, ground-breaking work,
Tremblay, who has spent his career unraveling the social roots of
aggression, showed that humans are at their most violent in their
toddler years. He has also found that children who don't learn to
regulate physical aggression before they start school have the highest
risk of serious violent behavior during their teenage years and as
adults.
The new study was designed to try to identify babies and young children
who are most at risk of having lifelong problems with their inability to
control aggressive behavior. The idea is that these children can be
taught to control their aggressive impulses before they start school and
avoid trouble when they grow older.
Tremblay and his colleagues started with
a random sample of 572 families with five-month-old babies. Mothers were
asked to assess the physical aggression of their children at 17, 30 and
42 months after birth.
About 28 percent of the kids displayed little or no aggression, while 58
percent were modestly aggressive. About 14 percent were significantly
more aggressive than the others, and showed what the researchers
describe as persistent high levels of kicking, hitting and biting.
Tremblay compared their families to those of the less violent kids, and
found the four risk factors that together mean a baby is 11 times more
at risk of being a chronically aggressive child.
They are: having a mother who started having babies when she was 20 or younger; having a mother with high levels of anti-social behavior before the end of high school, such as running away from home, being involved with youth protection or the police, starting fights and stealing more than once; having a mother who smoked during pregnancy; being born into a low-income family. Each of these factors incrementally increases the risk of a child being violent, and together all four could be used as an effective screening tool to identify the children and parents who need help, said Tremblay.
The next step in his research is to see if an intervention program can make a difference. Nurses will visit families with babies at high risk of developing chronic aggressive behavior and help parents teach the kids to control their violent impulses. Tremblay and his colleagues argue that parents and teachers have to stop excusing aggression in early childhood. They say some kids are born aggressive and ignoring the problem could set a child irrevocably on the path toward delinquency and crime. Aggressive kids grow up to be at higher risk of alcohol and drug abuse, accidents, violent crimes, depression and suicide attempts.
Most programs to prevent violence and
antisocial behavior target school-age children.
"This is generally too late," Tremblay said.
Anne McIlroy
8 July 2004
Report shows big drop in reading in U.S.
The reading of books is on the decline in America, despite Harry Potter
and the best efforts of Oprah Winfrey. A report released Thursday by the
National Endowment for the Arts says the number of non-reading adults
increased by more than 17 million between 1992 and 2002.
Only 47 percent of American adults read “literature” (poems, plays,
narrative fiction) in 2002, a drop of 7 points from a decade earlier.
Those reading any book at all in 2002 fell to 57 percent, down from 61
percent.
NEA chairman Dana Gioia, himself a poet,
called the findings shocking and a reason for grave concern.
“We have a lot of functionally literate people who are no longer engaged
readers,” Gioia said in an interview with The Associated Press. “This
isn't a case of `Johnny Can't Read,' but `Johnny Won't Read.”
The likely culprits, according to the report: television, movies and the Internet.
“I think what we're seeing is an enormous
cultural shift from print media to electronic media, and the unintended
consequences of that shift,” Gioia said.
The decline came despite the creation of Oprah's book club in 1996 and
the Harry Potter craze that began in the late 1990s among kids and
adults alike. Reading fell even as Barnes & Noble boasted that its
superstore empire was expanding the book market.
In 1992, 72.6 million adults in the United States did not read a book.
By 2002, that figure had increased to 89.9 million, the NEA said.
“Whenever I hear about something like this, I think of it as a call to arms,” said Mitchell Kaplan, president of the American Booksellers Association. “As booksellers, we need to look into what kinds of partnerships we can get into to encourage literacy and the immediacy of the literary experience.”
In May, the nonprofit Book Industry Study
Group reported that the number of books purchased in the United States
in 2003 fell by 23 million from the year before to 2.22 billion. The NEA
study, titled “Reading at Risk,” was based on a Census Bureau survey of
more than 17,000 adults. The drop in reading was widespread: among men
and women, young and old, black and white, college graduates and high
school dropouts. The numbers were especially poor among adult men, of
whom only 38 percent read literature, and Hispanics overall, for whom
the percentage was 26.5.
The decline was especially great among the youngest people surveyed,
ages 18 to 24. Only 43 percent had read any literature in 2002, down
from 53 percent in 1992.
Gioia said the electronic media that are contributing to the problem do
offer possible remedies. He praised Winfrey's use of television to
promote literacy and said he wished for a “thousand variants” of the
idea.
“There's a communal aspect to reading that has collapsed and we need to
find ways to restore it,” Gioia said.
The title “Reading at Risk” is modeled on “A Nation at Risk,” a 1983 government study that warned of a “rising tide of mediocrity in elementary and secondary schools” and led to numerous reforms. But Gioia avoided specific proposals in the NEA report.
“I don't believe the NEA should tell the culture what to do,” he said. “The reason we are bringing this study out is that we consider it a crisis situation that requires a national conversation.”
Hillel Italie
8 July 2004
Growing Montessori Committee to plan for a Montessori middle school program faces questions of where, when and how.
What is Montessori? From the American Montessori Society Web site: Dr. Maria Montessori, Italy’s first woman physician, became interested in education while caring for mentally challenged children in a psychiatric clinic in Rome. There she combined sensory-rich environments and hands-on techniques in the hopes of reaching children previously labeled “deficient and insane.” … Within two years, the children were able to pass Italy’s standardized public school tests. In 1907, Montessori … opened
“A Children’s House” for pre-school children living in the slums of San Lorenzo. With her scientific background to guide her, she observed how young people learned best when engaged in purposeful activity rather than simply being fed information. She drew upon her clinical understanding of children’s cognitive growth and development in constructing an educational framework that would respect individuality and fulfill the needs of the “whole child.” Following Dr. Montessori’s death in the early 1950s, the method enjoyed a renaissance in America as parents sought new learning options for their children. In 1960, parent and teacher Dr. Nancy McCormick Rambusch founded the American Montessori Society to meet an overwhelming public demand for more information on Montessori education. Today … there are 3,863 Montessori schools in the U.S. including 325 programs in public and charter schools.A Montessori classroom has these basic characteristics at all levels: * A partnership with the family. The family is considered an integral part of the individual's total development. * A multi-aged, multi-graded, heterogeneous group of students. * A diverse set of Montessori materials, activities, and experiences, designed to foster physical, intellectual, creative and social independence. * A schedule that allows large blocks of uninterrupted time to problem solve, to see the interdisciplinary connections of knowledge, and to create new ideas. * A classroom atmosphere that encourages social interaction for cooperative learning, peer teaching, and emotional development.
After five years in Drew Model School’s Montessori program, Stephen Moran doesn’t look at school work as a chore. “I enjoy going to school, because the Montessori curriculum makes it so much fun,” he said. Stephen, 10, who will be entering fifth grade at Drew in the fall, has been in the Montessori program there since he was a preschooler. At the July 1 School Board meeting, he told board members he would like to stay a while longer, and urged them to consider starting a middle school program based on Maria Montessori’s education principles. “I would very much enjoy going into a Montessori middle school,” Stephen told the board. School Board members voted unanimously to approve a planning process for a Montessori middle school program, possibly to be housed at Drew, that could start as early as fall 2006. A planning committee for the program will be formed this autumn. School staff plan for a two-year implementation process, but assistant superintendent for instruction Mark Johnston said a pilot program could be in place earlier. The School Board knew that Stephen Moran wasn’t the only person from Drew who wanted the chance to continue Montessori education beyond elementary school. “We have a lot of interested Montessori parents,” said Board member Dave Foster. They will push for it to open, but students will determine the success of the program. “Middle school years are tough years for some kids,” said Risa Browerd, Stephen Moran’s mother and head of the Drew Model School Association’s middle school committee. “Maybe there’s a niche here that will fit for some kids.”
BRINGING MONTESSORI PROGRAMS to middle school poses some problems, problems the planning committee will have to solve in the coming year. Montessori education puts students from different grades in one classroom and stresses hands-on learning styles. In addition, Montessori theory encourages older or more advanced students to teach their peers some lessons. Middle school classes stick to the basic ideas of Montessori education, said Cindy Lanham, director of the Montessori School of Alexandria. Open since 1971, the school offers classes from preschool through fifth grade, and began offering classes through eighth grade six years ago. “There’s some difference, in degree of intensity,” she said. “It’s going to be the same sort of thing, working at your own pace.” A memo to Superintendent Robert Smith, from retiring assistant superintendent for instruction Kathy Grove, points out that Montessori’s focus on hands-on learning can be tougher to apply to middle school’s more abstract concepts. Hands-on education does not immediately lend itself to abstract concepts, Lanham said. But Montessori classes rely on some resources year after year, and students can adapt those to science, math or history lessons as they grow more abstract.
ANY MIDDLE SCHOOL must be open to, and feasible for, all Arlington students, Grove pointed out, not just graduates of Drew’s Montessori elementary program. “We should not establish a program that … requires entry at age three,” Grove wrote. Those challenges are central to establishing a Montessori middle school, said Lanham. As a private school, Montessori School of Alexandria’s programs are based on enrollment, and there has been a two-year lapse in their middle school. Still, Lanham said, “one full class went through. It’s a way for kids to continue on. Most had been in Montessori since preschool, and their parents felt really strongly about them continuing to learn that way.” Students new to Montessori can make their way in a Montessori middle school, she said. “We did bring in somebody who had been in a traditional school until sixth grade.” But success in that case really depends on the student, Lanham said. “A lot of the materials are based on things they learned in preschool or elementary, so it can be difficult coming in later. Because of who this girl was, it was very easy, a very fluid transition.” That would be true in Arlington as well, said Browerd. “Montessori builds on itself. You need to look at the individual.”
MANY MIDDLE SCHOOL Montessori students would come from Drew. “My hope and desire as a Montessori parent is that this program can be in place by the time my daughter’s leaving the fifth grade,” said Monique O’Grady, mother of a rising fifth grader at Drew. That’s an advantage, said Bryant Monroe, a Drew parent, because Drew has educated the students for the program, and built up a supportive parent community. “We have a huge advantage over places that started it out of whole cloth,” he said. Eight elementary schools play host to a total of 16 Montessori preschool classes. Not all of those students will go to Drew, but they will be the prime candidates for a Montessori middle school. “We need to get information out to the preschools,” Monroe said. There are still many questions to be answered, Grove wrote in her memo: How much would a Montessori middle school program cost? Where would it be located? How could students there take part in high school credit classes or after school activities? Both Monroe and O’Grady were members of a small exploratory committee, and came to the board meeting to support the proposal. But others will lead the way from here, O’Grady said. “We’re not the only parents with kids who will go through the program. A lot of other parents want to be in on the ground floor.”
Jim Silver
6 July 2004
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