Of course you love your children you'd do anything for them. In fact, sometimes you do too much for them. Every parent struggles with how much to discipline their children and how much to let ride. Just because you are a parent doesn't mean you don't want to be liked. But in today's world the pressure to keep up with the latest technologies, smart phones and flat screen TV's may actually be hurting your children and not only by the lack of socializing that goes on by their interacting with things instead of people.

In an article titled,"It's Official: TV linked to attention deficit" found on www.whitedot.org, and written by Jean Lotus, she points out how TV may actually be rewiring your child's brain! "A study from the American Academy of Pediatrics shows that watching videos as a toddler may lead to Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD, also called ADD in UK) in later life. TV watching 'rewires' an infant's brain, says Dr. Dimitri A. Christakis lead researcher and director of the Child Health Institute at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, Seattle, Washington." You work hard only to come home to then take your children to dance lessons and baseball practice. Once everyone is home safe and sound it's not unusual to turn on the TV so that the children can be occupied while you take care of cooking or other responsibilities. But according to the American Academy of Pediatrics while your children are watching TV something dangerous is going on inside their brains. "The damage shows up at age 7 when children have difficulty paying attention in school." The article reports, that ..." In contrast to the way real life unfolds and is experienced by young children, the pace of TV is greatly sped up...Quick scene shifts of video images become "normal" to a baby when in fact it's decidedly not normal or natural....Exposing a baby's developing brain to videos may overstimulate it."

In a society where the competition with not only each other is intense, but with our school systems trailing behind even some of the third world countries, our children need to be well prepared to use their brains efficiently. Unfortunately however, the article goes on to say that ADHD affects 12 percent of our children a stark rise since the 1950's when most watched TV decidedly less than many families today. This increase can be no surprise when you think about the fact that nearly twenty-six percent of children under the age of two have TV's in their bedrooms.

Many of you suspected that TV was harmful but perhaps many thought the harm was only due to the violence and the overly sexual content of even perfume commercials. Now that it's official that TV is rewiring your children's brains here are some suggestions to help your child develop a healthy interest in reading.

• Have a talk with your children and find out what excites them. Then take the whole family to a bookstore and make a treat out of everyone finding a book or two that fits into their interests.

•  Reading in front of your children is the best example you could offer if you'd like your children to enjoy reading.

• Make a percentage of their allowance dependent on how many books they've read that month.

• Ask you children about the books they are reading. Use this conversation as an opportunity to not only get to know your child better, but also to support their interest in reading.

Your children watch you even if you don't realize it. When they are with their friends, they use some of the same vocabulary you use; they plagiarize your sayings and quotes too. But you'll never know it. More importantly, your children won't do as you say if even you don't. Change starts with you, make the most of it.

Copyright Donya Ture'