"Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle maintains that each hour of TV watched per day by preschoolers increases by 10 percent the likelihood that they will develop concentration problems and other symptoms of attention deficit disorders by age seven" (Louv 4)
This quote holds some shocking information in regards to how
detrimental television can be to the youth. If one hour of television increases
the likely hood of attention deficit disorders by ten percent it would be believed
that watching television wouldn’t be as popular as it is today. There are
numerous types of television shows that are more or less directly targeting
younger children such as Yo Gabba Gabba and Little Einsteins. Parents are
placing their children in front of the television and putting on these “educational”
programs without even knowing that it is possible that the amount of television
their child is watching could in turn attribute to an attention problem in the
future for their kid. This quote overall shows that one of our main forms of
entertainment if not managed correctly could be injuring our youths ability to
concentrate.
"Andrea Faber Taylor, Frances Kuo, and William C. Sullivan have found that green outdoor spaces foster creative play, improve children's positive adult interaction- and relieve the symptoms of attention-deficit disorders". (Louv 8)
The findings of these three researches open up another door for parents who's children suffer from ADHD but do not want to heavily medicate them with the common prescriptions such as Ritalin. Since children can gain positively in regards to an attention deficit problem from playing outside in green spaces such as parks and forests it would be a lot more cost effective to take your child to an outdoor activity rather than spending hundreds of dollars on prescription medications. Not only would it save parents money but it would also be an all natural approach to the attention deficit problem. The medication will always be readily available all you would have to do is open up the door and head outside.
"The medications can also have unpleasant side effects, among them sleep disruption, depression, and growth suppression of approximately half an inch per year on average, as reported in a large randomized trial funded by the National Institute of Mental Health". (Louv 10)
ADHD is becoming a popular disorder. More and more often you hear parents discussing the latest diagnosis of their children's hyper activity problem. Children are prescribed numerous amounts of prescription drugs to help curve the Attention deficit disorder one of the most popular being Ritalin. The problem is that the side effects of these prescriptions are damaging the children emotionally and physically. If the side effects of Ritalin suppress growth, initiate depression, and keep the children up at night you must wonder is it really helping them? With the knowledge of how the medicine could be negatively impacting the children it is important to lean towards more natural approachs like the "green space" idea recently discussed earlier.
Sources
Quotes
Louv, R. (2005). Last child in the woods. Algonquin Books.
Pictures
1.http://www.adhd-app.com/2013/03/05/tv-causes-attention-problems/
2.http://www.freefoto.com/preview/31-06-6/St-James-s-Park--London
3.http://momsdailydose.wordpress.com/category/discipline/
No comments:
Post a Comment