Junk culture killing childhood

You know, as wired as I am now, I am so glad that I was lucky enough to grow up before the age of "the computer" - and, of course, standardized testing.

By Kate Kelland for Reuters, London - Britain's children are being poisoned by a "junk culture" of processed food, computer games and over-competitive education, an influential group of children's authors and experts warned on Tuesday.

In an open letter to the Daily Telegraph, 110 teachers, psychologists and children's authors--including the internationally acclaimed author Philip Pullman and Penelope Leach, a leading childcare expert--called on the government to act now to prevent childhood being killed off altogether.

Forced "to act and dress like mini-adults," children are becoming increasingly depressed and experiencing escalating levels of behavioral and developmental problems, they said.

"Since children's brains are still developing, they cannot adjust as full-grown adults can, to the effects of ever more rapid technological and cultural change," the letter said.

"They need what developing human beings have always needed, including real food (as opposed to processed "junk"), real play (as opposed to sedentary, screen based entertainment), first hand experience of the world they live in and regular interaction with the real-life significant adults in their lives."

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