Helping Imagination Conquer Technology
Statistics don't lie; According to the National Survey data: Twenty percent of children aged 8 to 16 years are having two or less gym classes per week.
Twenty-five percent of children watch four or more hours of television per day.
Childhood obesity rates have more than tripled since 1980.
Thirty percent of children are at or above obesity status in 30 U.
S.
states.
** It is easy to see what has changed in America since 1980.
Technology, we have become technology junkies.
Today we do not buy our children a stuffed animal to play with.
We buy them a robotic dog with 150 phrases preloaded.
Video games, Portable electronic everything is depriving our children of one thing that can conquer the weight.
An imaginative playtime.
When we were younger playing involved activity.
We did not have all the technology, so we played games.
We would climb and jump around our bedroom trying not to touch the carpet.
The carpet monster could "get you".
We played cowboys and Indians by running around outside yelling and throwing china berries at each other.
Lining up a couple of chairs and pretending you were driving a car, stuffed animals lined up in the "backseat".
We had a lot of fun, and it all came from inside us.
So, how do you turn it around? Keep the T.
V.
, Keep the electronic games, but make room for imagination.
Some technology is good, and educational.
On the other hand, every toy does not need 10 functions and a cue card to operate.
From baby dolls that require potty training, to Barbie dogs that require house breaking, technology tells them how to play with every toy, what it does, and how it does it.
After the novelty of the high tech toy wears off, it is pretty much an overpriced piece of junk.
I bought my daughter a toy that talks to her, is as "real life" as you can get.
The problem is the toy does not make room for my daughter's imagination.
She can not put the toy in the "backseat" of her car, because it does not stop its preinstalled programming long enough for her to enjoy her game.
We need to create an environment for our children that will allow their minds to grow and flourish.
Buy toys that they do not have to learn how to play with.
Give them a play area where they can build forts and jump around on furniture.
Let them be children, creative, imaginative, active children.
http://www.
emporiagazette.
com/news/2010/jan/19/childhood_obesity_america
Twenty-five percent of children watch four or more hours of television per day.
Childhood obesity rates have more than tripled since 1980.
Thirty percent of children are at or above obesity status in 30 U.
S.
states.
** It is easy to see what has changed in America since 1980.
Technology, we have become technology junkies.
Today we do not buy our children a stuffed animal to play with.
We buy them a robotic dog with 150 phrases preloaded.
Video games, Portable electronic everything is depriving our children of one thing that can conquer the weight.
An imaginative playtime.
When we were younger playing involved activity.
We did not have all the technology, so we played games.
We would climb and jump around our bedroom trying not to touch the carpet.
The carpet monster could "get you".
We played cowboys and Indians by running around outside yelling and throwing china berries at each other.
Lining up a couple of chairs and pretending you were driving a car, stuffed animals lined up in the "backseat".
We had a lot of fun, and it all came from inside us.
So, how do you turn it around? Keep the T.
V.
, Keep the electronic games, but make room for imagination.
Some technology is good, and educational.
On the other hand, every toy does not need 10 functions and a cue card to operate.
From baby dolls that require potty training, to Barbie dogs that require house breaking, technology tells them how to play with every toy, what it does, and how it does it.
After the novelty of the high tech toy wears off, it is pretty much an overpriced piece of junk.
I bought my daughter a toy that talks to her, is as "real life" as you can get.
The problem is the toy does not make room for my daughter's imagination.
She can not put the toy in the "backseat" of her car, because it does not stop its preinstalled programming long enough for her to enjoy her game.
We need to create an environment for our children that will allow their minds to grow and flourish.
Buy toys that they do not have to learn how to play with.
Give them a play area where they can build forts and jump around on furniture.
Let them be children, creative, imaginative, active children.
http://www.
emporiagazette.
com/news/2010/jan/19/childhood_obesity_america