Risks of too much “screen time” for children?
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Pulitzer Prize winning author Larry McMurtry says he doesn't see kids reading anymore and never sees them in his book store. He thinks we're witnessing the end of the culture of the book, and he may be right.
Kids in the U.K. spend an average of six hours a day looking at screens.
Kids in the U.K. spend an average of six hours a day looking at screens while watching TV, on the internet or playing video games, according to a new report by ChildWise.
The annual survey across the U.K. found that kids ages 5 to 19 spend only half an hour a day reading a book while they spend nearly 3 hours a day watching TV, an hour and a half on the internet and more than an hour playing games on consoles.
Many parents justify the time their kids spend online as necessary for school work. Wrong answer. Only 9-percent of kids said they looked up something for school the last time they logged on. Instead they are on social networking sites, chatting with friends, playing games and watching You Tube videos.
Some experts say the result could be a generation unable to compete in the adult world later in life because they lack essential reading and writing skills. Others warn this is a dangerous digital divide between parents and kids that is widening.
Here’s my question to you: What's the risk of allowing children to spend six hours a day in front of computer screens?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Obama Inaugural Parade Walk: Brave or Foolish?
US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle wave to supporters as they walk along Pennsylvania Ave during the parade following his inauguration as the 44th president of the United States. (PHOTO CREDIT:ROBYN BECK/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Most of them want to do it. Presidents during the inaugural parade often like to be outside the confines of their bulletproof, bomb proof, everything-proof limousine the Secret Service lovingly calls "The Beast."
It gives them a chance to get closer to the people, who in many cases, have traveled far and endured a certain amount of hardship for the slight chance they'll get to see the President, up close and personal.
Jimmy Carter was the first to do this in 1977.
When the nation's new first couple exited the car yesterday, people began screaming and cheering along the parade route. It was like Elvis had suddenly appeared in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue.
And while the Obamas appeared relaxed and enjoyed the interaction with the crowd, don't kid yourself. For the Secret Service, it was a very tense time. When he's exposed like that, they can't guarantee his safety.
You could almost hear the collective sigh of relief when our new President decided to return to the safety of the presidential limousine.
Barack Obama lives inside the Presidential bubble now, and he doesn't have the freedom he enjoyed prior to noon yesterday when he became the leader of the free world.
Here’s my question to you: Was it brave or foolish for President Obama to leave the limo and walk several blocks during the inaugural parade?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Obama’s climb to President: What surprises you?
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
My friend, CNN Contributor Donna Brazile, said the inauguration of the first African-American U.S. President is a day to rejoice. On CNN.com, she explains why President Obama succeeded where others before him have failed.
What surprises you the most?
Only four years ago, Barack Obama became the junior senator from Illinois. He was a virtual unknown.
Brazile, a Democratic strategist, believes the key to President Obama's success was that he did not run as a black candidate, unlike people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. He ran as a progressive Democrat.
Brazile points out that most people thought it would simply make the campaign trail interesting when Obama decided to run. No one expected yesterday's events to be the culmination of that decision.
But on a cold night in Iowa, Obama knocked off Hillary Clinton in arguably the whitest place in America, and it was game on. He won primary after primary including Georgia and Virginia, the former seat of the Confederacy. And in the general election, he mopped the floor with John McCain.
The American people didn't see a black man when they looked at Obama; they saw someone who held out hope for a better future for them and their families. It's all pretty amazing stuff.
Here’s my question to you: What surprises you most about Barack Obama's climb to the presidency?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Obama’s Call to Service: Will you answer?
Here’s my question to you: Will you answer President Obama's call to do community service?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 5 pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
Extravagant Inauguration: Does it send the wrong message?
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Barack Obama is hosting the party of a lifetime, and it seems that there's no penny pinching going on in spite of the recession.
US President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle wave during yesterday's 'We Are One' concert, one of the events of Obama's inauguration celebrations.
Estimates are that total costs for Obama's inauguration celebration could reach, or even exceed, $160 million. Obama has raised an estimated $41 million to help cover the costs of things like the train ride from Philadelphia to Washington on Saturday, and the star studded concert featuring U2, Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen and others yesterday. There's also the actual swearing in ceremony tomorrow with a price tag of $1.24 million and 10 official inaugural balls. Not to mention the cost of security and those 5,000 port-a-potties.
Four years ago, Democrats warned President Bush about an extravagant inauguration calling it inappropriate during a time of war. Today, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue, the unemployment rate is the worst since 1945, consumer confidence is down along with the stock market and companies announce daily they are laying off people, closing stores or going out of business altogether.
But not a peep from the Democrats about the costs of Obama's inauguration. See, he's one of theirs.
And if you want to lose your appetite for dinner, consider this. The biggest donors for the inaugural festivities are recently bailed out Wall Streeters. Is this a great country or what?
Here’s my question to you: In light of the sour economy, does an extravagant inauguration celebration send the wrong message?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Global Warming: Where does it rank as a concern?
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
No pressure, but as President, Barack Obama has just four years to save the planet. That's the dire warning from NASA scientist Jim Hansen, who says it's urgent for the new President to take the lead and do something about climate change.
Scientists believe that Greenland, with its melting ice caps and disappearing glaciers, is an accurate thermometer of global warming.
Hansen says in four years it will be too late. The consequences of doing nothing will include rising oceans, collapsing ice sheets, flooding, dying species, and disrupted weather patterns.
Carbon levels have already sent greenhouse warming past the point of no return and efforts to stop them from rising aren't working. Clearly a new approach is needed.
Hansen is urging the Obama administration to order an investigation of the ice caps around the world as the first order of business for the climate office. He's been asking the British Royal Society and the National Academy of Sciences to do so but it hasn't happened yet.
He makes it clear that the only way global warming can be solved is if the United States takes a leadership role. Without the U.S. aggressively pursuing solutions, Hansen says we are doomed.
Here’s my question to you: Where does global warming rank on the list of things that concern you?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
What would Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. say about Obama?
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Sometimes things work out the way they're supposed to. Today is Martin Luther King Day, a holiday set aside to honor the slain civil rights leader. Without him, tomorrow would never have happened. Tomorrow Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. The first African-American president we've ever had.
Martin Luther King would be 80 if he were alive today.
It's been almost 46 years since Dr. King, who would be 80 if he were alive today, led the march on Washington and delivered his famous "I have a dream" speech. From segregation, lynchings, water cannons and police dogs to the Oval Office in less than half a century. Dr. King would be very proud.
According to a CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll, 49% of Americans believe the U.S. has fulfilled Martin Luther King's vision laid out on that day: 69% of African-Americans and 46% of Whites.
A lot is riding on Obama. He is making history in a way his predecessors have not. Not since the late John F. Kennedy has so much hope been placed at the feet of one man by so many. It's going to be a helluva ride, and if Barack Obama can pull this off, our country is going to re-emerge from eight years of winter.
Here’s my question to you: If Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today, what would he say about Barack Obama’s inauguration?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
How should the government help homeowners?
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Home foreclosures were up a record 81% in 2008…that's a 225% increase since 2006. If that doesn't get your attention how about this: more than 3 million foreclosure filings were issued last year and more than 860 thousand families lost their homes.
Should the government be doing anything to help homeowners?
Some say that number is on the low side, and this year things may get worse. Efforts to stop or even slow the crisis have failed. The two government- sponsored mortgage companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, temporarily suspended foreclosures at the end of November. But foreclosures in December were higher than in November. The experts are now predicting we could see another 3 million foreclosures this year.
The rest of the problem is tied to collapsing prices. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index says home prices have dropped 21% on average nationally from their peak, and in some of the worst hit areas, like Phoenix, they've dropped as much as 40%. What this means in many cases is that people who can no longer make their mortgage payments also cannot sell their house for enough to pay off their mortgage. The houses are worth less than what is owed on them.
Here’s my question to you: What should the government be doing, if anything, to help homeowners?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Why can’t the two parties work together?
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
House Minority Leader John Boehner sent a clear message yesterday to President-elect Obama that he is far from having the support he and the Democrats need to pass the 825 billion dollar emergency stimulus bill.
Why aren't there any Republicans in this photo?
The sticking point: The plan was crafted by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and her Democratic colleagues without Republican input.
Obama has been pushing for bipartisan support and an end to 'politics as usual' in Washington. The country is in the midst of an economic crisis with no end in sight and the President-elect has warned of dire consequences if nothing is done. But Democrats and Republicans seem unable to put their differences aside and work fore the common good.
And it's a little more than egos and arguing for argument sake. Boehner says the Democrats are operating on "the flawed notion that we can borrow and spend our way back to prosperity."
Some conservative Republicans are uncomfortable with the hundreds of billions of dollars of spending in Obama's plan. Some Democrats don't like the amount of spending as compared to tax cuts in the bill, and there's skepticism whether the business tax cuts will really create the jobs they're supposed to.
Here’s my question to you: Why can't the Democrats and Republicans work together instead of against each other?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 4 pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
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