| Why Wordsworth outshines the web
When she received the Nobel Prize, Doris Lessing devoted her acceptance speech to an impassioned denunciation of the internet and all its ways. When great writers give us their views, they sometimes put aside their genius and mount the soapbox simply in their capacity as coeval of all the other silly old gits who have the same range of prejudices. So we thought, sadly, when old Kingsley Amis gave his post-luncheon views on the State of the Nation. But might Lessing be right? Any of us who have spent the last week in the company of children and young adults will have enjoyed moments of repose while they went off to absorb themselves in jokey Facebook messages or computer games. Lessing contrasted the rapturous scenes in poor African townships when she and her fellow progressives arrived more than half a century ago, with cargoes of books.
Early Environmental Education and Nature-Play Develop Positive ...
Computers, video games, television, schools' emphasis on homework, a full after-school schedule of extracurricular activities, lack of access to natural areas—all these things and more are keeping children from experiencing their natural world and learning how the many levels of nature—weather, animals, plants, natural formations—are intimately connected with each other and with human life. Fostering environmental education and free play in nature for children is critical because it:
helps them develop into adults who understand and care about environmental stewardship encourages them to problem-solve. Research shows that children who participate in environmental education programs develop better critical thinking skills. nurtures their sense of wonder, imagination, and creativity provides them with a sense of beauty, calm, and refuge in a sometimes frightening world expands their intellectual development.
Kaiser Permanente and Golden State Warriors Team Up to Fight Childhood ...
OAKLAND, Calif., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente and the Golden State Warriors are teaming up to help fight childhood obesity with a video game that teaches kids to get active and an education outreach program in Bay Area schools. The partnership tips off on Tuesday, November 6 at the Warriors-Cleveland Cavaliers game at ORACLE Arena, where Warriors forward Al Harrington will encourage children, parents and teachers to play "The Incredible Adventures of the Amazing Food Detective" (www.amazingfooddetective.com), a video game recently launched by Kaiser Permanente. Amazing Food Detective is the only free, online video game in English and Spanish that teaches children to eat healthier foods, get more active and manage how they spend their time in front of the computer and television.
Frontline tackles Internet-driven generation gap
"Growing Up Online," the Frontline documentary that airs tonight, starts out sounding alarmist, as well as a few years late. "It's Friday night, and six friends are having a party," a voice-over intones ominously, as teenage boys settle down with their computers to play a first-person-shooter game. "Within minutes, they're locked in battle." The same gloomy tome is used to describe kids watching YouTube, a boy logging onto MySpace, a group of teens sending text messages. It's the sort of reaction adults probably had when kids first started playing video games, or talking on the phone. Indeed, "Growing Up Online" takes a parental view, yet it isn't terribly generous to the parents. Yes, many grown-ups are unaware of their children's online doings. But according to Frontline, adults are also barely capable of understanding all of this technology.
Spence-Jones to pay $8,000 for election violations
That Spence-Jones didn't acknowledge her campaign was behind a radio spot accusing Dunn of stealing from a church in the early 1990s. ''If Rev. Dunn stole God's money, do you think our city of Miami tax dollars will be safe?'' said the ad, authored by Spence-Jones ally Barbara Hardemon. The commissioner received the most serious fine for handing out nearly $23,000 in cash to poll workers on election day. State law says campaign workers must be paid with checks, not cash. Spence-Jones said she believed she was following campaign rules when she approved the cash payments, distributed by Hardemon and Hardemon's husband, Billy. ''I am not admitting guilt,'' Spence-Jones said in a written statement Thursday. ``I was a first-time candidate and made every effort to follow campaign guidelines.'' The settlement, signed last week, must still be approved at an election commission meeting in May.
A Cyclonic Vacation
Since I sported trendy clothes, my colleagues with grown up children would tease me on being the evergreen bachelor. Love or even the fragrance of it had not reached me till then. I had accepted it as my fate, but who was to stop me from hoping or dreaming? Besides, I reasoned that I was better off than those who were saddled with quarrelsome, nagging spouses and unruly, problematic children. .
|
