Scientists disagree about what sort of play is most important, government is loath to regulate the type of toys and technology that increasingly shape the play experience, and parents still feel pressure to supervise children’s play rather than let them go off on their own. (Nearly two-thirds of Americans in a December Monitor TIPP poll, for instance, said it is irresponsible to let children play without supervision; almost as many said studying is more important than play.) And there is still pressure on schools to sacrifice playtime – often categorized as frivolous – in favor of lessons that boost standardized test scores.

“Play is still terribly threatened,” says Susan Linn, an instructor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and director of the nonprofit Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. But, she adds, “what is changing is that there’s a growing recognition that the erosion of play may be a problem … we need to do something about.”

One could say that the state of play, then, is at a crossroads. What happens to it – how it ends up fitting into American culture, who defines it, what it looks like – will have long-term implications for childhood, say those who study it.

Read the entire article, Toddlers to tweens: relearning how to play

The California Waldorf school has been getting plenty of press since the publication of an article in the New York Times last month.

The press has brought out the debate over whether high technology is necessary for children in grade school.

Check out the NBC video that shows why high-tech parents choose a school that picks blackboards over IPads.

TV Time an Indicator of Future Health Problems

In a world first study researchers have found that six-year-olds who spent the most time watching television had narrower arteries in the back of their eyes, increasing their chances of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes in later life.

The study, reported in “Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology: Journal of the American Heart Association”, showed the increased health risks from each hour a day of television were similar to that associated with an increase of 10 mm HG in systolic blood pressure.  http://www.wmi.org.au/ournews/Pages/Kidsscreentime.aspx

In a world first study researchers have found six-year-olds who spent the most time watching television had narrower arteries in the back of their eyes, increasing their chances of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes in later life.

The study, reported this week in “Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology: Journal of the American Heart Association”, showed the increased health risks from each hour a day of television was similar to that associated with an increase of 10 mm HG in systolic blood pressure, researchers said.

The study looked at one and a half thousand 6-to-7-year-old children in 34 primary schools in Sydney. Those who regularly participated in outdoor physical activity had wider average retinal arterioles (arteries behind the eyes) compared to children with the lowest activity levels.

“We found children with a high level of physical activity had a more beneficial microvascular profile compared to those with the lowest levels of physical activity,” said Dr Bamini Gopinath, lead author and senior research fellow at the University of Sydney’s Centre for Vision Research.

“This suggests unhealthy lifestyle factors may influence microcirculation early in life and increase the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure later in life.”

Physical activity enhances blood flow and has a positive effect on the linings of blood vessels. Retinal microvascular diameter is a marker for cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure in adults, but this is the first study to show a sedentary lifestyle in childhood is linked to a narrowing of the vessels in the retina.

On average, the children spent 1.9 hours per day in screen time and 36 minutes a day in organised physical activity. Children with the highest levels of physical activity, just over an hour or more, had significantly wider average retinal arteries than those who spent less than half an hour a day being physically active.

“Excessive screen time leads to less physical activity, unhealthy dietary habits and weight gain,” Dr Gopinath said. “Replacing one hour a day of screen time with physical activity could be effective in buffering the effects of sedentary lifestyles on the retinal microvasculature in children.

“Free play should be promoted and schools should have a mandatory two hours a week in physical activity for children. Parents need to get their children up and moving and off the couch,” Dr Gopinath said. “Parents can also lead the way by being more physically active themselves.”

Co-authors are: Louise A. Baur, Ph.D.; Jie Jin Wang, Ph.D.; Louise Hardy, Ph.D.; Erdahl Teber, Ph.D.; Annette Kifley, M.B.B.S.; Tien Y. Wong, M.D., Ph.D.; and Paul Mitchell, M.D., Ph.D. Author disclosures are on the manuscript.

The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, the Westmead Millennium Institute and the Vision Co-operative Research Centre funded the research.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mickey-hart/theres-a-fire-on-the-moun_b_839285.html

http://www.slate.com/id/2288402/pagenum/all/

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/education/09nowhere.html?_r=2&nl=afternoonupdate&emc=aua2

Don’t forget, next Wednesday, December 15th, is the follow-up discussion with the Brilliant Parenting group at Water’s Edge School.  Come join us for further discussion on ways to take charge of your child’s education, get involved, and work with teachers to ensure your child is getting the most out of their classes without inviting potentially dangerous levels of stress.

http://www.sanfranmag.com/story/tech-gets-a-time-out

As always, please feel free to share comments!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/opinion/02engel.html?emc=eta1

http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/research-finds-no-advantage-learning-read-age-five/5/33888

Thanks to Donna Brooks for forwarding this along.  Comments on the article are welcome!

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1940395-1,00.html

Please feel free to leave comments here!