Unplug! 101 Ways to Pull Your Kids Away from Television

About the Book

This is a book full of ideas to help lure your kids away from the enticing glow of television and into the world creativity and imagination. It's motivational and practical - a good resource for anyone who works with kids - parents, teachers, grandparents, homeschoolers, group leaders, and baby-sitters. Prefaced by a chapter of statistics and references to current thought on children and television viewing. 101 activities, supported with catchy graphics & easy instructions, are offered for kids varying in age up to preteens, by former television producer and teacher of Romper Room - the longest running children's TV show in the country - from 1953 to the late nineties. Today, television is the number one activity for both kids and adults. Studies show that children devote up to 42 hours per week viewing television (depending on what study you're willing to accept). A recent study by the Journal of Science, March 29, 2002, concludes that the more time kids spend watching television, the more likely they are to behave aggressively in future. "Kids would be better off if they watched LESS THAN one hour a day on average," said lead author Jeffrey Johnson of Columbia University.

About the Author

Wanda Kanten Hartfield is a former television producer and teacher of Romper Room in several Canadian markets. Romper Room was the longest running children's TV show in the television history - 1953 to the late nineties. While at CKCO in Kitchener, Ontario, she met and married news broadcaster Michael Hartfield. The couple has since lived in Oregon where Wanda produced the PBS children's series, Camp Sunshine, on Oregon Public Broadcasting - that ran statewide in the 1980's. She is a graduate of Marylhurst University, has worked primarily in advertising and public relations, and is currently Marketing Director at the Museum of the Oregon Territory in Oregon City, Oregon. Wanda has been involved in directing vocal groups, and produces digital backup orchestrations. Michael has worked in broadcasting, public relations and the political arena. Their family includes two sons, Dorian and Tristan, who are both engineers and live in the area, whose new endeavour can be checked out at www.buckstop.biz.