Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Tuesday 4 sepTember 2018

From penny press to Snapchat: Parents fret through the ages

By BARBARA ORTUTAY Cassidy said.
Associated Press That eventually led the
NEW YORK (AP) — When American Academy of
Stephen Dennis was rais- Pediatrics to adopt, in
ing his two sons in the 1984, its first recommenda-
1980s, he never heard the tion that parents limit their
phrase "screen time," nor kids' exposure to technol-
did he worry much about ogy. The medical associa-
the hours his kids spent tion argued that television
with technology. When sent unrealistic messages
he bought an Apple II Plus around drugs and alcohol,
computer, he considered it could lead to obesity and
an investment in their future might fuel violence. Fifteen
and encouraged them to years later, in 1999, it issued
use it as much as possible. its now-infamous edict that
Boy, have things changed kids under 2 should not
with his grandkids and their watch any television at all.
phones and their Snap- The spark for that decision
chat, Instagram and Twit- was the British kids' show
ter. "Teletubbies," which fea-
"It almost seems like an ad- tured cavorting humanoids
diction," said Dennis, a re- with TVs embedded in their
tired homebuilder who lives In this Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018, photo, Kathy and Steve Dennis pull off the cover of their 1980's- abdomens. But the odd
in Bellevue, Washington. era Apple II+ computer bought for their then young sons in Bellevue, Wash. TV-within-the-TV-beings
"In the old days you had a Associated Press conceit of the show wasn't
computer and you had a the problem — it was the
TV and you had a phone same concern we were parents more helpless than and white set, according "gibberish" the Teletubbies
but none of them were having back in the '50s." did the funnies, the auto- to Mitchell Stephens, a me- directed at preverbal kids
linked to the outside world True, the anxieties these mobile, the movies and dia historian at New York whom doctors thought
but the phone. You didn't days seem particularly other earlier invaders of University. should be learning to speak
have this omnipresence of acute — as, of course, they the home, because it can The hand-wringing started from their parents, said
technology." always have. Smartphones not be locked out or the almost as quickly. A 1961 Donald Shifrin, a University
Today's grandparents may have a highly customized, children locked in," Sidonie Stanford University study of Washington pediatrician
have fond memories of 24/7 presence in our lives Matsner Gruenberg, direc- on 6,000 children, 2,000 and former chair of the AAP
the "good old days," but that feeds parental fears tor of the Child Study Asso- parents and 100 teachers committee that pushed for
history tells us that adults of antisocial behavior and ciation of America, told The found that more than half the recommendation.
have worried about their stranger danger. Washington Post in 1931. of the kids studied watched Video games presented
kids' fascination with new- What hasn't changed, She added that the biggest "adult" programs such as a different challenge.
fangled entertainment and though, is a general pa- worry radio gave parents Westerns, crime shows and Decades of study have
technology since the days rental dread of what their was how it interfered with shows that featured "emo- failed to validate the most
of dime novels, radio, the kids are doing out of sight. other interests — conversa- tional problems." Research- prevalent fear, that violent
first comic books and rock In previous generations, this tion, music practice, group ers were aghast at the TV games encourage violent
n' roll. this often meant kids wan- games and reading. violence present even in behavior. But from the mo-
"This whole idea that we dering around on their own In the early 1930s a group children's programming. ment the games emerged
even worry about what kids or sneaking out at night to of mothers from Scarsdale, By the end of that decade, as a cultural force in the
are doing is pretty much a drink. These days, it might Arizona, pushed radio Congress had authorized early 1980s, parents fretted
20th century thing," said mean hiding in their bed- broadcasters to change $1 million (about $7 million about the way kids could
Katie Foss, a media stud- room, chatting with strang- programs they thought today) to study the effects lose themselves in games
ies professor at Middle Ten- ers online. were too "overstimulating, of TV violence, prompting as simple and repetitive as
nessee State University. But Less than a century ago, frightening and emotion- "literally thousands of proj- "Pac-Man," ''Asteroids" and
when it comes to screen the radio sparked similar ally overwhelming" for kids, ects" in subsequent years, "Space Invaders."q
time, she added, "all we fears. said Margaret Cassidy, a
are doing is reinventing the "The radio seems to find media researcher at Adel-
phi University in New York
who authored a history of
American kids and media.
Called the Scarsdale Moms,
their activism led the Na-
tional Association of Broad-
casters to come up with
a code of ethics around
children's programming in
which they pledged not to
portray criminals as heroes
and to refrain from glorify-
ing greed, selfishness and
disrespect for authority.
Then television burst into
the public consciousness In this Oct. 5, 1980, file photo, Nancy Armstrong, teacher at Mar-
In this July 21, 1987, file photo, Carlos Tunnerman, 10, plays the with unrivaled speed. By shall elementary school in Harrisburg, Pa., assists her students in
"Contra" video game at an arcade in a Miami, Fla. the use of computers to aid them in their studies.
Associated Press 1955, more than half of all Associated Press
U.S. homes had a black