Recent research confirms that the quantity and tone of the words an infant hears affect its ability to think rationally, solve problems, and reson abstractly, reports The New York Times. A study at the University of Iowa found that children of parents who are professionals heard an average of 2,100 words each hour, while those of working-class parents heard 1,200 words and those of parents on welfare, only 600. The parents' tone of voice--encouraging, scolding, warm, or commanding--was also noted. The two-and-a-half-year study showed that the varying input "had a profound effect on each child's abilities to think conceptually by age 4." One of the researchers, Dr. Betty Hart, said that the first three years are unique in the lives of humans because infants are so utterly dependent on adults for all their nurture and language.
Awake! March 8, 1998
"Cartoons and video games influence the behavior of 6- to 12-year-old children more than school, since they spend up to 38 hours a week watching TV as opposed to 23 hours in the classroom," reports the Mexican newpaper El Universal. Researcher Omar Torreblanca noted that TV teaches children which attitudes to adopt in paricular situations--but without the child's being aware of whether those attitudes are good or bad. He explained: "If the child sees cartoons or a film in which one of the characters is tied up with satisfactory results, the child will most probably imitate this practice." Torreblanca's investigation indicated that "kids apply in their daily life what they learn every day from TV but not what they learn at school, since they consider school as just an obligation."
Awake! July 8, 1998
How can you be a good mother in the eyes of your children? In a Whirlpool Foundation survey of 1,000 American children ages 6 through 17, most preferred doing simple, everyday things with their mothers, essentially "just being together." The children's favorite activity with Mom was to "have dinner together." Second place was shared by "go out to eat thgether" and "go shopping together." Following closely in third place was to "sit and talk together." The children's first choice of ways to thank their mothers was also simple. Seventy percent said that they most often give their mother a "hug and kiss." Their next favorite ways were to say, "I love you" and "Thank you."
Awake! Nov. 22, 1998
Parents who playfully babble to their babies may be giving them much more than tender affection, some scientists say. Patricia Kuhl, of the University of Washington, and her coworkers studied infant-directed speech of three different languages -- Russian, Swedish, and English. It seems that parents' highly exaggerated speech patterns not only get their baby's attention but also serve as a basis for the baby to learn that language. "By 6 months of age," says Science magazine, "babies learn to categorize vowel sounds, paying attention to distinctions that are meaningful in their native language, such as the difference between 'ee' and 'ah,' while ignoring meaningless variations."
Awake! May 22, 1998
The entrance of satellite TV into India, providing viewing for 24 hours a day, is leading to an increase of neurological problems in children. This claim was made by leading neurologists at the All India Neurology Update 1996 conference. Head of the neurology department of Amritsar Medical College, Dr. Ashok Uppal, stated: "Children are now glued for longer hours to the television, leading to an increase in what neurologists term as 'photo-stimulus sensitive epilepsy or television-induced epilepsy.'" Dr. Uppal advised parents to limit their children's television viewing or to give them breaks at regular intervals during long spells of watching.
The State of the World's Children 1995, a report by UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), says that it is absurd to think that the world cannot afford to meet the essential needs of its children. To illustrate their point, UNICEF gives the following figures: The estimated extra cost of meeting the worldwide need for adequate nutrition and basic health care is $13 billion a year; for primary education, $6 billion; for safe water and sanitation, $9 billion; for family planning, $6 billion&emdash;making a total of $34 billion a year. Compare that, they say, with the estimated amount of what is already being spent per year on the following: golf, $40 billion; beer and wine, $245 billion; cigarettes, $400 billion; the military, $800 billion. Surely, they say, all the world's children could be adequately cared for if proper priorities were established.
Awake! January 22, 1997
Babies and pregnant women should not be exposed to any tobacco smoke, say British researchers. A two-year study by the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, in Bristol, examined every case of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), also known as crib death, in three regions of England. Questioning the parents of 195 babies who died and those of 780 others who lived, they found that of the mothers whose babies died, 62 percent smoked, contrasted with 25 percent of the mothers whose babies lived. "The recent research makes it clear that fathers who smoke are also a problem," says Joyce Epstein, of the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths. "If we could remove all smoking from a baby's environment, we estimate that cot deaths [cases of SIDS] would fall by 61%."
Awake! January 22, 1997
The Journal of the American Medical Association said: "An estimated 3000 young people, mostly children and adolescents, become regular smokers each day. This represents about 1 million new smokers each year who partially replace the approximate 2 million smokers who either quit or die each year."
More than half of all U.S. smokers start by the age of 14. David Kessler, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said that of the 3000 children who begin smoking each day, almost 1000 will eventually die from smoking-related illnesses.
If such figures trouble you, it would be well to remember that our children follow our example. If we don't want them to smoke, we must not do so either.
. . .it is the single most preventable cause of death, disease, and addiction in our era.
Awake! October 22, 1996
http://www.moonchild.ch/Library/briefs/AChildren.html