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Carlos Artavia English 1010-76 / Eric Robertson November 27, 2013 Parental Involvement

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In Salt Lake City there are many community activities provided to help bring families together. There are free offers like Salt Lake City Friday Night Flicks or South Jordan Outdoor Movies. All you need to bring to enjoy the neighborhood party is blankets and chairs. Museums offer free admission days. There are various free events throughout the year that give families the opportunity to socialize and do something a little more physically active. In a recent newspaper article in The Independent, Assistant Editor and Media Editor Ian Burrell reports that an overload of screen time causes depression in children (1). He claims, according to a study published by Public Health England, that screen time is responsible for limiting a childs opportunity for social interaction and physical activity. My view however, is that screens can be used creatively to give families opportunities to be physically and socially active together. While I agree with the report findings on the risks of sedentary screen use, there is a larger piece of the puzzle not addressed. It is parental responsibility in healthy child development. Therefore, health insurance rebates for families participating in community programs are effective because they encourage parental involvement in social and physical activities for children. Despite the serious negative associations, child screen time is the norm and is increasing. Children use computers in school and at home to learn. They play video games and computer games. More social time is spent text messaging and on social networking sites. Time is also spent watching television whether the programs are educational or not.

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Many organizations conduct studies in order to understand the impact that media use has on our children. One of these organizations is Common Sense Media. In 2011, they surveyed 1,384 parents of children ages zero to eight years old. The results are concerning. Forty seven percent of babies under one year of age watch television or DVDs on a daily basis for almost two hours. Thirty percent in this age group has a television in their bedroom. Children under two spend only half the time reading as they do watching television and videos. The older children spend even more time on screen devices. Two to four year olds spend an average of three hours a day. While five to eight year olds average three hours and forty-five minutes daily (Rideout 1118). Dr. Strauburger et al. with the American Academy of Pediatrics describe the problem this way, sedentary electronic use displaces more active pursuits (202). They explain further that, children spend more time with media than in any other activity except for sleep (Strauburger et al. 202). I am a father. I want to foster a healthier life style and use of technology for my daughter. It is my responsibility as a parent to do all I can to nurture the wellbeing of my child. It is also my responsibility to try to be a good role model and promote healthy activities that will build her confidence. Parental involvement is powerful. Before I was a father I was a child. I remember I was afraid of the river. I didnt know how to swim. Then my father took me fishing for the first time. Although I was afraid at first, we crossed the river many times together. He told me to hold on to his back while we crossed. He held me the whole way. I remember how he helped build my confidence. He told me not to be afraid because he was right there with me. Hearing this and feeling his presence was enough for me. He started teaching me how to fish. He told me how fun

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and beautiful the things around us were. He showed me what a great experience it was to be in the wild. He made me feel that I could face my fears. He taught me how to swim. The ties with my father became stronger. After that day, I always asked him to take me with him when he went fishing. My father taught me how to fish, how to swim, how to be careful and pay attention to my surroundings. He taught me how to stay calm when I was afraid. Because of my father and the experiences we had, I learned to love being on the water. He helped me find myself. He provided me with the opportunity to learn new things and not be afraid. He guided me through the process of building my self-confidence. If it wasnt for his care and guidance, I might never have learned to overcome my fears. Physical health and emotional wellness of children is important to every caring parent. A large part of that wellness is dependent upon healthy social interaction and being physically active. The American Heart Association was founded in 1924 and is the nations largest organization dedicated to the fight against cardiovascular diseases. The American Heart Association states that Physical activity produces overall physical, psychological and social benefits in children (AHA). They also indicate physical activity helps with improved psychological well-being, including gaining more self-confidence and higher self-esteem (AHA). On the other hand, inactivity and the lack of social interaction with family and friends can lead to health and emotional issues. According to the American Heart Association, the lack of physical activity puts children at risk for heart disease, obesity, stroke, and diabetes. They recommend at least sixty minutes of physical activity for children each day. Reducing the time spent watching television, playing video games, and using computers helps to accomplish this goal (AHA). A close friend of mine, Zack Clark, is married with two children. I admire the time he is

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able to spend with his children. I asked him how he stays so involved despite the fact that he travels frequently for work. He indicated, However I can. He believes it doesnt always have to be a grand adventure. Often for him it means walking to the park as a family to spend twenty minutes at the playground before waking home. He does everything he can to avoid using screens while he is home with his children. When he is away overnight on business, he does take advantage of communication devices in order to stay connected to his family. Although he knows it is not the same as being there in person, he virtually tucks in his children at night through video chat. For him, its a matter of prioritizing quality family interaction. On the evening that I interviewed him, he had just returned home from a business trip to Denver. After leaving my house, he picked up his children from daycare and returned home. His wife had left town earlier in the day for a separate trip. Upon arriving home he made a dinner of pork chops and Brussels sprouts. He and the children set the table, and Zack lit two candles for a little ambiance. Eating by candlelight was something new and special for the children. Something they hadnt ever done at home. To Zack, it is about making the most of your time when you are with your children and trying to add little touches to make it special. Another thing that is important to him is to give his children opportunities to socialize and interact around other people. He says by doing this, his children have learned to be comfortable in different public environments. For example they like to attend outdoor summer concerts where they can listen to music while eating a picnic dinner. A health insurance rebate is particularly helpful for those families that do not have much extra income. A rebate each month translates into a parent being able to work a couple hours less overtime a week in order to participate in the community programs with their family. Beyond receiving an insurance rebate, the ultimate goal is to raise children to become independent and

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productive members of society. There are a lot of life skills that need to be learned. Being active, healthy, and talking with others helps children to have the self-confidence needed to engage in their community. There are important social interaction experiences that children cannot get from only inside the home with family members. It is the kind of interaction that is developed by being a part of a bigger social structure. Children learn to become a part of the larger society and to care about building their community. They learn about the diversity of cultures and ideas of many people. More importantly, they learn to be accepting and respectful of others. I grew up as a kid in a place that was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. We lived in the country. We had a lot of oranges trees and the river right there by our house. Our neighbors were about a quarter mile away. We always shared what we had with them, and they did the same for us. I remember on days when we finished our chores, we were able to go and play with the neighbor kids. We ran around and played with anything we could find. We used our imaginations to be creative. We built houses out of sticks and banana leaves. We didnt have toys, but we had an old bicycle tire that we rolled around. We had so much fun. We were so creative. We had kindness and respect toward our neighbors. We were united.

! Works Cited

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Burrell, Ian. Overload of Screen Time Causes Depression in Children. The Independent. 28 Aug. 2013. Web. 27 Sep. 2013. Clark, Zack. Personal interview. 8 Nov. 2013. Physical Activity and Children. American Heart Association Site. American Heart Association, 24 Jul. 2013. Web. 6 Oct. 2013. Rideout, Victoria. Zero to Eight: Childrens Media Use in America 2011. Common Sense Media Site. Common Sense Media Program for the Study of Children and Media, Fall 2011. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. SLC Events Friday Night Flicks. Salt Lake City Government Site. Salt Lake City Corporation Community Events, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. Strauburger, Victor C, MD, Council on Communications and Media. Children, Adolescents, Obesity, and the Media. Pediatrics: Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics 128.1 (2011): 201-208. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. Top 10 Tips to Help Children Develop Healthy Habits. American Heart Association Site. American Heart Association, 2 Oct. 2013. Web. 6 Oct. 2013.