Technology overload

[mantra]

According to studies, 50 years ago boys were apparently fitter and healthier than boys today. They weren't as tall and their teeth weren't as straight, but they suffered none of the symptoms of depression, abysmal social skills, anxiety and under achievement they do today.

Technology might have made life physically easier, but it hasn't enhanced a child's wellbeing. Fast food, being driven everywhere and sitting for hours alone with a computer is creating a new sort of child, one that might not live as long as their parents.

Even their behaviour has become increasingly disturbed and perhaps that's because corporal punishment is now illegal. Some of us would remember the brutality of a classroom where a naughty boy was caned - and hard, but these boys were a small minority and their bad behaviour wasn't allowed to disturb a classroom. Today they're a majority and the teachers are scared of them.

The government moans today about smokers being a waste of health resources, but how are they going to deal with the obesity epidemic when these kids become adults?

HE may be smarter, taller, better fed, and have straighter, whiter teeth, but today's average 12-year-old boy is not as healthy as his 1962 counterpart.

So what happened to our children? Back pain, anxiety, depression, obesity, mood swings and diabetes are front and centre of the close-up snapshot of many Queensland boys in 2012.

Junk food, sugar-laden drinks, technology overload, heavy school bags, a lack of sleep and a lack of outdoor activity have all played a part.

Kids Sense paediatric development expert Joanna Buttfield said technology had had a huge impact on the development of boys. "There is less inclination to spend time playing and being active," she said. "The impact of technology has segmented society. Those who are less physical have decreased their abilities and there is a bigger gap between them and the active young boys."

.....

Today's children are on average 15cm taller due to eating more.

Australian boys are hitting puberty earlier than their 1960s counterparts. Today a boy, on average, hits puberty at 10 years and one month, while in 1962 it was at 11 years and six months.

Weight increase is one theory, but Danish researchers have pinpointed higher exposure to chemicals in food and drinks. Another British research team concluded that children experiencing the stresses of a broken home can experience early puberty.

The "lights out" night time routine of families in the '60s has been replaced with many children setting their own routine and nearly two-thirds of children between seven and 14 having a television in their bedrooms. Back pain, shoulder problems and neck aches can also plague today's 12-year-olds as they carry an abundance of books, computers and sporting equipment.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/lifest ... 6528074036

[Neferti]

Kids/boys were fitter and healthier even 20-25 years ago. There was no ADHD or whatever it is back then and you rarely saw a fat kid, less alone a fat adult.

Teachers are too afraid of getting sued to discipline a naughty kid in class. I think it all began when little kids were allowed to call their teachers by their first name instead of Mr, Mrs, or Miss. No respect.

Parents aren't allowed to discipline their naughty kids in public either. Smack a naughty boy in the Mall and you will be on CCTV and could get reported and taken to Court for "child abuse". It has happened.

As far as eating junk food, most young families I know still cook proper meals every day and only have a Maccas or KFC or whatever once a week as a treat (for Mum so that she doesn't have to cook).