Kids Need Mud, Not TV

‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ has kids hurting.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ In a letter… ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ has kids hurting.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ In a letter published in Oct. 30’s New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Howard Bennett, a Washington, D.C. pediatrician, said that three of his young patients came in complaining of persistent headaches. The cause, it appeared, was too much reading. Each child was reading the latest edition of ‘Harry Potter,’ an 870-page brick of a book, and developed headaches after poring over it.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ But the good doctor wasn’t worried. He did suggest that the kids lay off for a while, but two refused, preferring painkillers to giving up a beloved book. The headaches subsided when the three finished the tome.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Such headaches can result from sleep deprivation and eyestrain, reported the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, since the muscles of and around the eye tire if used too much.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ We’ve all experienced something similar — flexing little-used muscles leads to aches, ones that lessen or dissipate if properly trained.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ More importantly, these kids are not just exercising their eye muscles; they’re also exercising their minds. And we encourage such intellectual headaches — they indicate active brains that, like muscles, require training.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Hopefully, these kids learned from their ‘Harry Potter’ experience, and, in addition to their ‘Hogwarts headaches,’ will go on to have ‘Narnia neck-strain’ and ‘Middle-Earth migraines.’

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ It’s not that we wish them any harm. Rather, we want them to become fluent readers who devour books, despite all obstacles. All three were between 8 and 10, and they are just entering the world of young adult books, which lay the foundation for a lifetime love of literature.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ This news is especially heartening after a Kaiser Foundation study, released Oct. 28, showed that two-thirds of young children watch a television or use a computer daily, at an average of two hours a day. Most parents surveyed said that they thought TV and computer time would help further their children’s education.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ But what’s more educational than a book? Rather than plugging in and logging on, kids should be taught the value of books early and often. And because books require such concentration, when kids are done with them they can switch from a mental activity to a physical one. As one Harvard doctor said, in the Oct. 30. Washington Post, kids should be, ‘spending time with siblings, with parents, with mud.’

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ And with books.