education |

In April of this year a study was released showing that American kids are exposed to four hours of TV per day. There has been for some time growing evidence that large amounts of exposure to media in general has it consequences, and now even TV as background noise is shown as detrimental to the development in young children of cognitive and reading related tasks. The American Academy of Pediatrics encourages children under the age of two from watching television at all and limiting over the age of two to no more than one to two hours per day.

Now in the Journal of Communication it is being reported that when 50 of children’s most popular programs have been analyzed it has been found that 92% of them contain some version of social aggression, bullying. This is the relational kind – including gossiping and manipulation of friendship. It was found that the perpetrators of this kind of aggression were rarely ‘punished’ or called out for their behavior and it was more likely to be presented in a humorous manner than physical bullying.

Is it possible that along with all the other influences that our children have that they are being socialized and taught what is acceptable socially by characters on TV, without parent recognition of what they are taking in?

Now personally, I could not name the top 50 children’s shows on TV. But if you have a young child, could you tell me what the shows are and if you recognize social aggression being displayed on them?

Sources:

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112702526/children-tv-social-bullying-09271/

http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112518568/study-american-kids-exposed-to-four-hours-of-tv-per-day/

Mr. Joe has collaborated with the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County to support all of our teachers in the county. What does this have to do with martial arts? The best self defense we can have is Education. Our teachers are one of the most valuable resources we have in the line of educating our children. All of us have had a special teacher in our life who made a difference for us. Yet so many, in fact all of them, take money out of their own pockets to provide a better experience for our students. They are dedicated souls that need to be shown that we appreciate them.

This fund will provide the essentials and sometimes the small extra things they need to be the best they can be. In addition we hope to have a small part in raising the morale of teachers by showing them on a year round basis that we know that they are working hard for the future of our students.

You can help by giving a small donation to show your support.

Visit our Grants 4 Teachers website to learn how!