Childhood being eroded by modern life, experts warn

[Jazzy]

Childhood is being eroded by a “relentless diet” of advertising, addictive computer games, test-driven education and poor childcare, a powerful lobby of more than 200 experts warns today.



In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, the group of academics, teachers, authors and charity leaders says children’s wellbeing and mental health is being undermined by the pressures of modern life. They urge the Government to address a culture of “too much, too soon” in Britain.



This includes a ban on all forms of advertising aimed at the youngest children, the establishment of a play-based curriculum for infants and a public information campaign warning of the dangers of screen-based entertainment.



The comments came five years after many of the same experts sent similar letter to the Telegraph that criticised politicians and the public for failing to allow children to develop properly at a young age. It led to a debate on the state of childhood in Britain and coincided with the publication of Labour’s Children’s Plan — a policy document covering all aspects of young people’s lives.



But the group, which includes Philip Pullman, the children’s author, Baroness Greenfield, the Oxford University neuroscientist, Lord Layard, emeritus professor of economics at the London School of Economics, and the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Rev Tim Stevens, claims that the “erosion of childhood in Britain has continued apace since 2006”.



A UN report published last week accused British parents of trapping children in a cycle of “compulsive consumerism” by showering them with toys and designer labels instead of spending quality time with them.

Full article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/educatio...being-eroded-by-modern-life-experts-warn.html



Do you think childhood is being eroded by modern life? Why or why not?

 

[Cranos]

Depends on the parents. If they don't set any boundaries when it comes to how long they watch tv or play games I think it's certainly possible.

 

[DrLeftover]

They're right, we should go back to the pre-industrial days where the kids worked in the fields as soon as they were old enough to walk... well, the ones that survived their first year anyway.

 

[Evil Eye]

They're right, we should go back to the pre-industrial days where the kids worked in the fields as soon as they were old enough to walk... well, the ones that survived their first year anyway.

I was just about to say that.

 

[Sariki]

I don't think modern life is. I think that it's the parents. Parents do all these things around their children let they do what they want and don't put any ground rules down. (not all parents of course) i think that parents should be more involved with their kids and watch what they do.