Toddlers Watching Television

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CMSP 108 30 March 2006 Toddlers Watching Television General Purpose: To persuade. Specific Purpose: At the conclusion of my speech my audience will be compelled to eliminate television viewing from all children less than two years of age. Central Idea: If children younger than two years of age do not watch television they will have better attention spans as they mature. Introduction If a 2 year old had an eye injury and may never see again unless he received eye drops for one month, we would severely scrutinize the parent that complained they were “just too busy to keep up with eye drops”, and that would be neglect. If a 3 year old couldn’t walk and the parents responded to both professional and parental advice with a relaxed sense of optimism and refused any follow up or physical therapy that would be neglect. Of course, if you were walking through a parking lot in July to find a sleeping baby, locked in a hot car, that is undoubtedly neglect. This fact, posted by Mark Brandenburg in his article TV and Your Toddler’s Attention Span, is according to a 2000 study by The Kaiser Family Foundation. According to the American Academy of Pediatric development standards, found at www.aap.org, no child under age two should watch television. You won’t hear much about these important studies from Time Warner or Newsweek Magazine, who according to the fore mentioned author Brandenburg, had a 2002 cover story that read Why TV is Good for Kids. Keep in mind Newsweek is owned by the Washington Post Company, which owns a huge cable company and six broadcast stations in our country. I have a two year old. I have done what all mammals are designed to do; reproduce. The difference in people and animals is our ability to reason. Everyone who has; will have; or will influence a child aspires for him or her to mature into highly reasoning adults, this requires
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