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James Steyer, founder of Common Sense Media, (September 2012; workandfamilylife.com), shares research results about the impact of screen time on preschool children:

  • A landmark study at the University of Washington showed that for every hour per day that preschool boys spent watching violent TV shows, they had three times the risk of developing behavioral problems at age 7.  This was true even when they were watching cartoons on commercial channels, which often have more violence than adult shows.
  • For each hour of TV young kids watch, they have a 10 percent higher chance of attention problems at age 7, including restlessness, trouble concentrating, and impulsive behavior.
  • Visual images may over stimulate and rewire preschoolers’ developing brains.  Learning to read and write takes time and patience. Kids who are used to the fast pace and instant gratification of screen media may easily get bored.

More than two hours daily of screen time also increases the odds that kids will be overweight.  They are exposed to a barrage of ads for high-caloric, sugary foods — and when they are sitting in front of a screen, they are not running, jumping, and moving around.

From Lilian Katz, a noted Early Childhood Educator: “I think the great struggle of our time – and no doubt for generations to come – is the struggle for equality.  But we might ask: equality of what?  People are not equally tall or musical or mathematical or athletic or beautiful; but they are equally human!  They are equally human in the sense that they all have hopes, and dreams, and wishes and fantasies and aspirations and fears and doubts.  They all want to be treated with respect and dignity and want to feel loved by someone.  In these ways it seems to me, all of the world’s people have much more in common than they have apart!”

He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.

Albert Einstein