I am currently in the middle of a book called "The world needs your kid - How to raise children who care and contribute". Some students from the High School went to see the Dalai Lama and friends the other day and this is one of the books they brought home. So far it's excellent. I found the following stats VERY interesting. Maybe you will too...
-Families are so over-scheduled that in the past twenty years structured sports time has doubled, household conversations have become far less frequent and family dinners have declined 33 per cent, according to over-scheduling expert Dr. Alvin Rosenfeld.
-Since the 1970's, children have lost 12 hours a week in free time, including a 25 per cent drop in play overall, according to the University of Michigan's Survey Research Center.
-Students were found to be spending 8 hours more each week in school than kids 20 years ago. During this period, homework time has nearly doubled, according to Michigan researchers.
-Although the National Sleep Foundation claims students need 9 hours of sleep to be ready for school, most teens get between 7 and 71/2 hours of sleep each night.
-A Gallup poll in 2005 showed that only 28 per cent of American families with children eat together 7 nights a week, a 10 per cent drop from 3 years earlier.
-A 2004 study at the University of Minnesota found that teens who ate 5 or 6 meals a week with their families were 7 to 24 per cent less likely to smoke cigarettes or marijuana, drink alcohol, get lower grades or show signs of depression.
-A 2007 report by the Ottawa based Vanier Institute for the Family found that Canadian workers spend 45 minutes less with their families each day than they did 20 years ago.
