Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good.
-Vaclav Havel
In her new book,
Taking Back Childhood,
Exchange author Nancy Carlsson-Paige writes that childhood culture has changed dramatically in just one generation. Social trends — screen time, commercialism, sped-up daily life, violence and sexualization, academic pressures — are changing how children experience their early years. Carlsson-Paige observes:
"When corporations pitch their wares to kids, it's not just products they're selling through the increasingly sophisticated campaigns their marketers devise. It's also a mindset — one that tells kids, 'You'll be happy if you have this toy, if you eat this food, if you look this way.' One result is that from an early age many children get the message that happiness comes from acquiring things, which undermines their ability to find satisfaction and to meet their basic developmental needs through play and meaningful relationships with others. As we learn more about how commercialism is harming our children, we'll see that, despite its pervasiveness, there are many ways to counteract its destructive influence."
Carlsson-Paige suggests steps adults can take to counteract the harm to children from current social trends:
- Keep it simple with toys. Remember that fewer is better, simpler is better.
- Reduce television time, especially children's exposure to commercial TV.
- Avoid substituting material things for emotional expression and connection.
- Find regular times to be together as a family and encourage children to contribute to family life as a way of caring rather than a means to getting a material reward.
- Help children find peace and sanctuary through connecting to the natural world.
- Help children explore their own unique talents and interests, and show your interest in their activities by making descriptive rather than evaluative comments about what they do.
- Point out ads, talk about why they exist, and ask open-ended questions that encourage children to think more about marketing, keeping children's ways of seeing the world in mind.
- Prepare kids ahead of time for visits to a store.
- Help children learn how to handle the urge to buy without giving into it.
- As children get older, talk with them about our interconnections with the people and conditions that produce the items we consume.
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Tanzania Early Childhood Development Network
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, United Republic of
05/17/2008 03:07 am
This article gives alot of solutions to parents of today. Many of proposed solutions are those which we do not do but which we should be doing.
Thank you for this!!
Happy Valley, Australia
05/13/2008 00:54 am
Yes, parents can feel overwhelmed and fearful - often rightly so. They may be greatly encouraged by carers and teachers who acknowledge the hard work they do, and who offer alternative ideas of how to respond.
USC
Los Angeles, CA, United States
05/07/2008 11:22 pm
Providing tips to parents for finding a way to maintain balance in their children's lives is something we all want to do. When we also offer tips to parents about finding ways to balance their own lives and their adult and parenting roles we give them that little bit extra that gives them something more to work up from- that same idea of building a foundation on which we build children's experiences. I think that we really need to be careful that we "walk our talk" as often what we do is not what the parents see and our words fall short.
My heart goes out to parents who are bombarded by media in its many forms and the limited time that they have with their children as it just seems to become more limted as time goes on!
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
05/07/2008 10:03 pm
This is something which really interests me. Regarding the sexualization of children, you may also be interested in the following:
www.kf2bk.com This is a great little website, set up by Julie Gale, a mum in Melbourne and with links to Women's Forum Australia and Young Media Australia. For a scholarly but reader-friendly discussion, see Jane Kenway's book 'Consuming children' (Monash Uni, Australia). Hannah Davies and David Buckingham's work from University of London challenges with the argument that much of our adult repugnance towards the modern media world is really a matter of taste. After all, we can turn off the TV!
Character Avenue
Arlington, TX, United States
05/07/2008 07:41 am
Yes indeed! Parents need resources too.
Check out this website www.characteravenue.com