Are There Cures For Growing Pains?
According to a study of more than 2,500 toddlers published in the journal ?Child Development?, spanking may be harmful to both behavior and mental development, having long-lasting effects. Toddlers don?t understand enough about right and wrong or punishment. One-year-olds who were spanked tended to behave more aggressively at age 2 and didn?t perform as well at age 3 on a test measuring thinking skills. Parents who spank are more likely to be younger, less educated, single, depressed and/or stressed. Parents who were spanked are most likely to spank. Unfortunately, it becomes do unto others as they did unto you.
According to Harvard research, few states require child-care providers to meet specific requirements for nutrition and physical activity necessary for fitness. This contributes to the fact that one-fifth of four-year-olds representing all demographics are obese. Because approximately three-fourths of children ages 2 to 5 spend at least part of their day in child care, that care has to change. As of January 2009 Delaware, Georgia, Alaska and Nevada had made the most changes in child-care licensing requirements. Idaho and Louisiana had made the least. The other 44 states fell somewhere in between ? which is an unhealthy state for America?s preschoolers.
According to a first-of-its-kind study done at the University of Illinois, classmate putdowns make it harder for good students to learn and for not-so-good students to catch up. Using U.S. Department of Education data on more than 10,000 sophomores in more than 650 high schools, 20% said they were verbally putdown by other students. Although boys experience putdowns more than girls and African American students who consider themselves good students experience putdowns most, the problem exists in both public and private schools. One thing students shouldn?t have to learn in school is how to put up with putdowns.
According to 2 studies published in ?Pediatrics?, teenagers with their own car or free use of a car are much likelier to crash than teenagers who share a car. Of more than 2,000 teenagers studied, teens who had to ask for keys, had specific driving rules and had their whereabouts monitored had half as many crashes. They were also 71% less likely to drive drunk and 30% less likely to use a cell phone while driving. Car crashes are the #1 cause of death for American teenagers, killing more than 5,000 every year. Seemingly, parental involvement is the key to safe teenage driving.
Originally published here.
Knight Pierce Hirst


