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..............., oC mb r 8,19 1 I Not the stuff that dreams are made of? (Cwaaian Science News) Scarv TV can contribute to children's nightmares 1By Cyvia Dym Television may influence the content and, frequency of childrens nightmares, according t0 a recent study by Univeri-ty of Calgary child psychologist Greg Fouis. Fouts suggests that an increasing trend toward including violent or shocking scenes in movies without waming prevents many children from anticipating or avoiding these scenes and the nightmares they can trigger. Nightmares in children are usually caused by illness, family arguments, emotional conflicts, bass of a parent or pet, or changes in sleep schedules. However, Fouis argues that television, may act as a stimulus for nightmares, icreasing the likelihood of their occurrence. Fouts interviewed more than 300 children beween the ages of five and 14, about dreamts. He found that almost aIl the children reported dreamns related te, the content of a television show. Even more surprising, 57 per cent of the children reported nightmares specifically, related to the television show they had just viewed. The television show does not even have to be scary 10 induce nightmares, says Fouts. Sitcomts and cartoon shows LMamsa Canada no, you won'5t"l 1 By Michael Wycks "Yes we cari" preach com- petitiveness while spending your tax dollars foolishly. The federal governiment lias proven how easy this is to accomplish by spending a whopping $3.5 mil- lion to persuade Canadianis they need to be more competitive. The govemiment's message is being funnelled to Canadians through advertisements in major daily newspapers and on radio. The ads, which basically tell Canadian business and workers f0 shape up, are the brainchild of the Prosperity Secretariat, a fed- eral group handling the govern- menf's competitlveness initiative. If seeros Ottawa is attemptirig to boost public awareness of the need for the co untry t0 comfpete more effectively against increas- ing global competition. Obviously, competitivýeness is a central factor fo any feasi- ble long-ferm economnic plan for Canada. It's liard to argue with that. But for the govern- ment to spout, "Yes we can," in a series of feel-good ads about the international suc- cesses of individual Caniadian companies, and at the sanie time implemnent taxation and fiscal policies wvhicli wvork directly againsf fliat goal, is sheer lunacy. Unfortunately, whien the right liand is preaching comn- petitiveness, imploring Cana- dians f0 work at becoming global players on the economic front, and the left hand is imposing onterous taxes like the Goods and Services Tax amidst a severe recession, competitive- ness emerges as a secondary tar- get. nstead, survival quickly becomes the name of the game. How the federal governiment can expecf businesses to focus strategies on efficient expansion info the global arena when tfhey're being walloped by taxes, cross-border shopping and ane- mic consumer spending, is bafty. Once again this govern- ment lias displayed ifs profound ignorance in operating a busi- niess, particularly a smiall firm. The reality for 'Canadian consumers and small businesses is the struiggle to remain viable fliroug-li one of the worst reces- sions in years. If thle federal governiment is going f0 spend large am ounts of taxpayers' money, they should spend il wisely; spending $3.5 million on this type of adverfising is non- sensical. Initiatives f0 propel us out of this recession and enable Canadians to gel on wif hfle job of becomning compefitive, would bce a move in the riglit direction. Feel-good ads which pander f0 a sense of Canadian pide may stir our emnofions but tliey won't create jobs. AIl f is said and done, one fhing is clear: Canadians can compef , despite the federal government. Ottawa needs f0 do bet fer than coming uip wth PR campaigns preadhing "yes we ca, " while they block busi- ness and consumers witl poli- cies whidli say "no you won't. " CFIB Feeture Serice by saying'Don't lie a baby'," he says. To prevent the occurrence of nightniares, children may exercise avoidance techniques, says Fouts. Children as Young as five can anticipate a scary scene by the slow pan of the TV camera and the build-up of music. tn an effort to avoid seeing the scary scene and perhaps dreaming about it, children may close their eyes, tumn off the TV or change channels., However, Fouis says, theres a new genre of movies, in which the director tries to shock the audience by including violent or scary scenies without any wamning. This may resuit i children involuntarily viewing these scenes and subsequently experiencing nightmares about them. Fouts recominends that parents supervise their children's TV-watching habits. He also advises parents to watch television with their children and observe the children's reactions to television shows. ,If they see that the child is uncomfortable with a particular scene, then they should discuss it with the child and let the child express his/her feelings. Then the parents should reassure the child that this is just television and it won't happen in real life," says Fouts. His research was funded by the University of Calgary and by the Royal Commission on Violence in the Communications Industry. FARM &GARDEN LTt JOH-IN DEERE SALES & SERVICE Taunton Road, West of Orono Phone 416-983-9119 or 1-800-461-2120 can also bring about nightfflares. "For instance, the movie Bambi produces the mosi nightmares in children," Fouts says. He says alI nightmares usually fal into three types: about a disruption of a relationship, such as in B<imbi, where the mother is killed; abou t an intense conflict; or about the everits i a scary movie. Fouis notes that childreri are more sensitive to the details of a television show than adults are. He cites a case where a little boy was watching Little Hlouse on thte Prairie (a family show) and in one of -the scenes, the f ather was putting his daughter to lied. Ini the background,, the branches of a tree could be seen through the window . The unite boy perceived the branches as hands trying Io grab the girl away fromn her father. Adults did not even notice the tree i the scene. This heightened awareneSS of details may affect the incidence of nightmares i children, says Fouts. Fouts also found that the frequency of television-induced nightrnares is related to age a-d intelligence. Children as young as five may experience niglilmares, but the frequency steadily decreases with age and levels off at about 13 or 14 years of age. Aiso, children who obtain better grades at school have fewer nightmares. The researcher attributes th is relationship to the increasing cognitive abilities of the older children compared with those of younger children. Older children are capable of rationalizing a scary scene on television by telling themselves "I know that's not real blood; they're just pretending on TV." Consequently, television is bss likely to influence their dreamns as mucli as it would younger children's. Up to the age of 12, there is no gender difference in the frequency of nightmnares, notes Fouts. However, beyond age 12, boys become less sensitive Io frightening events than girls do. Fouts believes this is due to the socialization of boys. 'Fathers and older siblings often shame young boys, more often than young girls, mbt watching scary shows Tthe Electorate of Ward III On my mûtrement from the Northumberland and Newcastle Board of Education, 1 wish to thank you for your votes of confidence, which, enabled me to be your representative for the past three decades. Congratulations and Best Wishes to the New Board Wm. H. (Bill) Carman R\ejoice In Al i' C reaiLons Bofh Large And S mal Christmas is the perfect time to offer our thanks to God for his many gzfts and the beauty that is ail around us. Its also the perfect time for us to express our gratitude to you! Happy Holidays! M&M Meat Shops Bowmanville Demnis & Linda Moore and Staff