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Community Resources
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Cell Phones and Cancer
By Genoa Barrow
Cell phones are so popular among young people these days, that companies are even advertising them as back-to-school supplies along with backpacks, pencils and notebook paper. Parents, however, are being urged to proceed with caution.
On July 23, Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, Director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, issued a warning to his faculty and staff urging them to limit their cell phone use to the speaker-phone option and hands-free devices, saying that continued use can lead to brain tumors. Dr. Herberman went on to say that young children are particularly in danger from the radiation emitted from cell phones, because that radiation goes deep into their still-developing brains.
Electromagnetic radiation, or radio frequency energy (RF), he says can cause brain tumors as they are continually held directly against the head. Others believe that use can also lead to stress, fatigue, anxiety, attention deficit disorder and autism.
The United States Food and Drug Administration states, "If there is a risk from these products, and at this point we don't know that there is, it is probably very small."
Yet other countries such as England, France and India have already issued warnings to parents on the dangers of cell phone radiation.
"At the heart of my concern is that we shouldn't wait for a definitive study to come out, but err on the side of being safe rather than sorry later," Dr. Herberman said.
More frequently, cell phone companies and service providers are marketing their products toward young audiences. In 2006 Disney launched a line of phones for kids. The phones allowed parents to monitor their cell phone use and track their whereabouts through a global positioning system (GPS). Another company Efora LP incorporated LeapFrog educational software into its line of phones for those ages 6 and older. Many service providers now offer discounts for buying more phones and adding children to "family plans."
A television commercial for Verizon jokes about parents keeping up with childrens text messaging lingo. Proponents of the cell phone warning say text messaging would be better, at least less damaging, as the cell phone is not placed against the head. They also point to hands-free devices. In California, sales of Bluetooth devices are skyrocketing since the law now requires their use while driving.
The FDA, while maintaining its "no known risk" stance, also suggests use of hands-free apparatus and limiting cell phone use altogether.
"Reducing the time of wireless phone use and increasing the distance between the user and the RF source will reduce RF exposure," reads the FDAs website.
A company called BioPro, which has consultants in Sacramento, sells a number of devices that claim to combat "electro pollutants" such as RF. Among its "new generation of wellness solutions" are a chip that can be placed on ones cell phone, PDA or Bluetooth headset and a pendant that can be worn around ones neck. BioPro says each enhances a persons natural resistance to these pollutants by emitting a low-frequency noise field that blocks out the high-frequency irritants.
The discussion over whether or not cell phone use causes cancer and other health issues is not a new one, but the debate has picked up steam recently. The topic has found a national spotlight and has recently been featured on both NBCs Nightly News with Brian Williams and Larry King Live.
Among those featured on the Larry King Live show, which aired on July 29, were Dr. Derra Davis, the Director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburghs Cancer Institute, and Dr. Keith Black, Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.
"Young children particularly need to be careful and particularly toddlers, who now have cell phones that they use to play with; this is a really bad idea," Dr. Davis said.
Dr. Black addressed those who say that there are no known risks. "We;ve only been using cell phones for a short period of time. So if you have a 14-year-old who smokes cigarettes, we don;t expect that 14-year-old to develop lung cancer at 24, we expect [him] to develop lung cancer at 54," he said.
"If you have eight-year-olds using a cell phone, we don't expect them to develop brain damage at 18, but at 48. What happens after 20, 30, 40 years of use? That's the concern and we don't have the answer to that," he continued.
Parents are also grappling with the question. "I've heard that, but what are you going to do?" asks Cheryl Armstrong. "It's how I communicate with her."
Armstrongs 13-year-old has a cell phone, which she bought and her father, who doesnt live with them, pays for.
"I didn't want to get it for her, but then I saw a story on the news about a girl who almost got snatched walking home from school. In a case of an emergency like that, she has to be able to reach me, and text messaging takes too long precious seconds to call me or 911 that could mean life or death. Cancer is scary, but they're talking about years from now. What are we supposed to do right now?"
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Serve the Military as It ServesYou:
Volunteer to Mow a Military Familys Lawn Today
By Sarah Wischhof
There are currently 150,000 U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq, which leaves 150,000 families back home in the United States without their husbands, wives, dads, moms, brothers and sisters. It may seem daunting, but there is a way that every American can volunteer to support them and its easy!
The GreenCare for Troops program is facilitated by national nonprofit organization Project EverGreen and offers free lawn and landscape care for military families whose major breadwinner is serving in the Middle East. Developed in 2006, the program is working to serve more than 4,500 military families with their lawn care needs.
"It's not hard to mow someones lawn or help trim their shrubs," says Den Gardner, executive director of Project EverGreen. "What a lot of people don't think about is that many of these families become single-parent or single-income households -- many with small children -- when soldiers go overseas, and by doing something so simple, you help these families more than you could ever imagine."
GreenCare for Troops relies on professional and citizen volunteers to make the program possible. Gardner said in 2007 more than 1,000 volunteers supported military families in need and the organization is hoping for even more this year.
Gardner said the basic mission of this program goes back to Project EverGreens commitment to education about the benefits of green spaces to the environment, the economy and to peoples personal lives.
"When you are worrying about the safety of a loved one, theres not much anyone can do to calm your fears," Gardner says. "But green spaces have been proven to increase happiness and serenity, so we want to do anything we can to help maximize those benefits to these families."
Support for GreenCare for Troops comes from many green industry firms. Cub Cadet provides significant and important underwriting for volunteer coordination and administration. Lawn Boy is accepting nominations at www.lawn-boy.com for a program to place new Lawn Boy mowers into the yards of military families with loved one's serving in the Middle East.
To find out how qualified families can apply for free lawn and landscape care this summer, go to www.projectevergreen.com and click on the GreenCare for Troops logo. Or, you can make a toll-free phone call to 877-758-4835 to have an application mailed.
"There is no cost or obligation to families who apply to participate in GreenCare for Troops," Gardner says. "Project EverGreen will make every effort to link those who apply with local volunteers and landscape firms who have indicated a desire to help. However, since this is strictly a volunteer program, we cannot guarantee assistance to everyone who applies."
About Project EverGreen
Project EverGreen is a national nonprofit organization representing service providers, associations, suppliers/distributors, media companies, other organizations and individuals affiliated with the green industry. Project EverGreens mission is to raise the awareness of the environmental, economic and lifestyle benefits of landscapes and promote the significance of those who preserve and enhance green spaces at home, work and play. In addition, Project EverGreen sponsors YEA! (Yard Enthusiasts of America) at http://yardenthusiasts.com, an online community designed to provide information and interaction on a wide range of lawn and landscaping topics.
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It's Only Television, Right?
By Kimberly Horg
TV and Kids Today
99% of American homes contain at least one TV
32% of 2- to 7-year-olds have at least one TV in their own bedroom
65% of 8- to 18-year-olds have at least one TV in their bedroom
Before 18 years old, the average American youth sees
200,000 acts of violence on TV
16,000 to 40,000 murders on TV
The average American youth spends
21 to 28 hours per week watching television
Up to 90% of video games have violent content
53% of first- to third-grade children rated their favorite game as violent
99% of boys and 84% of girls in middle school rated their favorite games as violent
High-speed chases with cars tumbling through the air and crashing, Jason, Freddy, Michael, aliens, body-snatchers, brainwashers, blood-suckers, zombies, gangsters, guns, knives, bombs, drugs, nudity and sex. It has all been done on-screen numerous times, so limits are pushed to increase the shock value. But are people becoming desensitized as a result? And is there a limit on how much is too much on television?
There have been studies conducted to see if TV has an adverse effect on children and adults. Some studies suggest that behavior can mimic what is watched on television, depending on the person, environment, personal background and amount watched.
Christopher Eggleston, M.D., J.D., an expert on the subject of media violence and video games and an instructor at the University of California, Davis, College of Medicine,
has given lectures on the subject, including one called "Media Violence and Children for Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist." The focus of his presentation was the violent effects of the media.
"The conclusion of the public health community, based on over 30 years of research, is that viewing entertainment violence can lead to increases in aggressive attitudes, values and behavior, particularly among children," he says. "Its effects are measurable and long-lasting. Now more than ever children are being confronted by frightening media images, ranging from child-marketed movies and television shows to news reports of domestic terror attacks and images of war."
According to Eggleston, certain environmental stimuli, which are often characterized in popular media, are inherently stressful to a young child. Young children rely on their caregivers for self-regulation, including comfort and making the world a predictable as well as a coherent environment.
He says children need repeated opportunities through experience with the environment and their caregivers to develop the ability to integrate sensory inputs with thoughts and behaviors.
When it comes to behavior, Eggleston says individual factors can include age, gender, trait aggression, intelligence, psychosocial factors, cultural environment and family values/parental regulation of media diet.
According to Dr. Angelo Nazareno, a pediatrician in Sacramento for the last 15 years, there is a reason a movie or television show is rated a certain way.
"A childs television and computer consumption should be monitored and regulated by parents," Nazareno says. "The time they spend on it should be monitored, as well as the types of games and movies and websites there are seeing."
Movies are rated by viewer content, but the ratings can be useless if not properly enforced by parents, he adds.
Nazareno also tells parents to be more involved in their childrens lives. He advises them to encourage their children to pursue other activities for their mental and physical well-being.
"Obesity is one big problem facing a lot of children because they are less active," Nazareno says. "Children and teens who are sitting in front of a monitor, TV or computer are spending all their time that could be spent socializing or participating in physical activities and sports."
Eggleston says children ages 8 to 13 years spend more time with media than any other youth age group. He says one good outcome of this is that adolescents who are typically resistant to working with adults can discuss topics ordinarily intolerable. They can do this by describing how characters or icons would address such a topic. In this light, the media may provide a projective device for youths to discuss issues.
On the other hand, there are many negative effects of the media including it possibly contributing to increased aggression and hostility, loss of sympathy for victims and using violence as an acceptable means of conflict resolution.
Eggleston says cognitive beliefs about violence no longer characterize these behaviors as wrong. The emotions are no longer a visceral or affective response to violent behavior; often times the perpetrator is attractive and violence is seen as funny.
The American Academy of Psychiatry states that childrens cartoons portray more violence than primetime programming: Primetime has an average of three to five acts per hour, while Saturday morning cartoons average 20 to 25 violent acts per hour.
"A major study looked at all [74] English language G-rated feature films released in theaters between 1937 and 1999, which were available on videocassette in the U.S. before September 1999," Eggleston says. "All 74 showed at least one act of violence, with 81 percent showing a character attempting to kill or severely injure another person."
A majority of the violence involved clashes between "good" and "bad" characters, as a means of resolving conflict. About half of movies showed a character celebrating an act of violence and less than one-third of the movies portrayed a character advocating nonviolence.
There was a statistically significant increase in duration of violence over time.
"Our content analysis reveals a striking behavioral message implied by G-rated films that the good guys triumph over the bad guys through the use of force," Eggleston says. "The implication is that victims are likely to be bad and have gotten what they deserve."
Association of Media and Actual Violence in Kids states that children as young as 18 months act out what they see on television. Children under eight years are often unable to distinguish fantasy from reality. Children who watch violent TV shows, even cartoons, are more likely to hit playmates, argue, disobey class rules, leave tasks unfinished and are less willing to wait for things than peers who watched nonviolent programs. Media violence has been demonstrated to produce "immediate violent behavior" in some viewers.
Okeema Polite, the director of Mental Health at Another Choice Another Chance, says the violence on television could possibly contribute to bad behavior; however, the root of the problem for many kids she sees is their home life. Another Choice Another Chance mainly serves abused children who have experienced neglect or sexual abuse.
Eggleston advises parents to ask themselves:
- Who created the message and why are they sending it?
- Who owns and profits from it?
- What techniques are used to attract and hold attention?
- What values and points of view are represented by this message?
- What is omitted from this message and why is it left out?
- How might different people interpret this message?
- The National Association of Broadcasters issued this statement in 1952: "Television and all who participate in it are jointly accountable to the American public for respect of the special needs of children, for community responsibility, for the advancement of education and culture, for the acceptability of the program material chosen, for decorum and decency in production, and for propriety in advertising."
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