SchooGo Blog

I started making daily visits to my neighborhood parks only since I had my own child, but I have noticed that attendance dwindles at these play areas. There are days when we’re the only ones there. The evenings when we do have company, it’s usually toddlers with their moms or dads. I rarely see older kids outdoors.

The lede of a story on CNN.com yesterday made me realize it might be somewhat a worrying trend.

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“Russell Pate was driving through a neighborhood one late afternoon when he noticed something odd.

He couldn't hear the sounds of children playing. No jump rope patter. No squeals of a bike's brake. No crack of a bat -- just silence.

The streets were deserted because the neighborhood kids were cocooned in their homes, Pate says. It was a scene he's seen over and over again.

"Now you can drive through entire neighborhoods where you know there are a lot of young kids there and hardly see any of them out," says Pate, an American Heart Association spokesman.”

There have been numerous studies insisting that young Americans are getting less active and fatter, continues the article. Medical experts are calling children “coronary time bombs,” likely to develop heart disease as adults.

I just don’t get it. Why is it so difficult for parents to take children out to the park everyday? I have brought this topic up with other parents several times but there’s always a reason— our children get so tired at school, by evening they are completely spent. Or that our children get enough physical exercise at school so they should relax at home in the evenings. Then of course,  with both parents working, there are the logistics of visiting the park during weekdays.

I don’t have an answer for any of the above because I’m a stay-at-home mom of a child who does not go to school yet. Maybe I’ll have to bite my tongue and retire my children in front of the television or force them to stay indoors more once things change school and work wise.

Although I do remember from my own childhood that I was never too tired to play. Even after a full day at school that included physical education classes.

Meanwhile, I would love to hear from parents who are able to make the time to take their kids out to play.

Hopefuly it'll get other parents to rethink their excuses.

A couple of weeks ago a 15-year-old girl was raped outside a high school homecoming dance in Richmond, California. As many as 10 people were involved in the assault while 10 others are said to have watched without calling 911. The young girl’s ordeal lasted two and a half hours without anyone informing the police.

So far two teenage suspects have been arrested and the police are looking for others. But many of the witnesses may not be held accountable because the victim was over 14.

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“A 1999 California law makes it illegal not to report a witnessed crime against a child, but the law applies only to children 14 and under,” according to CNN.

The incident brings up a lot of questions. What was going on in the bystanders’ minds as they watched a young girl being rapes and beaten? What were they afraid of? Why did it take that long, even as news spread by word- of- mouth, SMSs and cell phone and videos that an assault was underway?

What can we do to raise children with a sharper conscience?

On a blog called “5 Minutes for Mom,” Hollie Polard, a guest writer, provides some tips on how parents can keep a conversation going with their daughters. Pollard herself was raped when she was 12-years-old.  There are three things she wishes her own mother had spoken to her about:

1.    I wished my Mother taught me long before I was 12 that she was the safe fortress, that I could tell her anything and not be judged or questioned, but loved and hugged in the moment.
2.    I wished I knew there is no shame when bad things happen to you, no matter how bad. It was and is not your fault. For 7 years I told no one. I told no one because of the shame.
3.    I wish I had been better prepared physically. I have taught my 11 year old some basic defensive moves. She knows what she can do and how to do it.

But as a friend suggested recently, the conversation should not be limited to daughters. Parents need to have a similar conversation with boys, not only warning them about being victims of such an ordeal but how not to be mute bystanders to crime.

I would think if we instill compassion in our sons and daughters, it would teach them to not be party to such horrendous deeds. All the better if we can teach this empathy through our own actions.

In his column in The Washington Post, Brian Reid, brings up a wonderful point to reiterate teaching from example.

He writes:
“Still, what I'm interested in, now, is making sure that my children know -- beyond a shadow of a doubt -- that they have a responsibility not to look the other way when someone is being harmed.

My thinking on this was nicely summed up in a piece in the Toronto Star a couple of years ago where the authors talked about the impact of an interaction their mother had once had with a homeless man. Rather than shuffle her children past, eyes averted, the woman stopped, engaged the man in conversation, gave him a dollar, and then continued on her way. The lesson learned that day, the piece concluded, was about humanity and how important it was to never consider anyone "invisible."

I would love to hear how other parents approach these issues with their sons and daughters. Do share.

The most common type of accidents involving kids are those that occur on the road. Motor crashes account for a bulk of these. Car seats and booster seats are the primary safety gadgets used for securing children while travelling, so selecting the right one is vital. In the multitude of choices available, this process can be confusing and requires much deliberation.  There are many things that need to be taken care off – the size, the shape (studies have shown that incorrect shape can cause backbone and head development damage), impact safety, longevity etc.
Traveling with Baby has an excellent guide on how to select one- a great resource that help parents make safe choices and use the seat for maximum safety. 
 
Traveling with Baby- Child Passenger Safety for Your Family
 

In my previous post I wrote about how technology is isolating young children from the real world these days. Let’s talk about social networking sites for a moment. Most adults are on at least one such site be it Facebook, LinkdIn or the myriad other networking websites. Most sites require an age limit of 13 to open an account. But there is no way to verify.

The result is that there are young children faking their ages to open accounts on these sites. In some cases the parents are aware of the account, know the password and even monitor their child’s activity online. They are also aware that their child is pretending to be older.

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Scientists are torn on the consequences of children being exposed to social networking as early as 9, 10 or 11.

“Some scientists worry that pre-adolescent use of the sites, which some therapists have linked to Internet addiction among adults, could be damaging to children's relationships and brains,” according to a story on CNN.

But others believe there is not enough research to prove that this behavior will have dire consequences because most children seem to use the internet in moderation and in positive ways.

As a parent, I don’t want to wait for there to be solid research to tell me I should have waited for her to be older to interact with people online. I would not take that chance.

Kids like to play games like Farmville on these sites. I’m sure I can find other places for her to play similar games without having an online persona.

What do you think? Do you allow your children to have accounts on social networking sites? Or do you think this generation is more media savvy and it makes sense to encourage them to do what others their age are doing?