Ceilidh

Michael Zey
futurist3000@aol.com

  While we all say we want our children to "be of good character," when push comes to shove, we place more emphasis on academics than character development for the very young.

  That's the major finding of a new nationwide consumer survey released today, which reveals that when asked to choose between intellectual pursuits and character development for preschool-age kids, Americans are more likely to embrace the former.

  At the same time, the survey of 1,000 consumers -- conducted in April by market research firm Synovate for Pausitive Programs, creator of the award-winning DVD "TimeOut Tot: The Behavior Coach" -- shows a population struggling to get the balance right.

  In response to the question, "with all the focus on academic testing at an early age, do you think society places enough emphasis on character development in our kids, including preschoolers?" 37 percent of respondents endorsed the need for more emphasis on intellectual pursuits, while 31 percent contend that there's already too much emphasis placed on academics at the expense of character development. Twenty-two percent said the balance between the two is satisfactory.

  The Pausitive Programs/TOT survey affirms other recent research on parenting issues. According to the Parents Survey on Discipline, reported in the Chicago Sun-Times in January, 93 percent of schools say kindergartners today have more emotional and behavioral problems than were seen just five years ago. The survey also found that "incidents of rage and anger" in young children have increased over the last three years. A separate Fairfield Research study, commissioned by Child Magazine, revealed that 21 percent of parents reported having a child with a discipline problem.

  "No one would dispute that both cognitive development and social development are vital to the growth of young children, but as our survey suggests, we need to find a better balance," said Ann R. Brazil, principal of Pausitive Programs and the creator of "TimeOut Tot," the new "good behavior coach" for children and their parents. "We don't want to turn out 'brainiacs' who lack social skills. Society places enormous academic pressure on children, often at the expense of character development. Sadly, if parents don't have their child on a wait list while the mom is pregnant, they find themselves pressured to prep their young children with interview rehearsals and practice tests for the preschool entrance exam.

  "Based on the survey, I'm hopeful that we're seeing the beginning of a backlash against a strictly academic focus in child-rearing," Brazil said. "A substantial portion of the population does care about developing character in our children, even from the earliest stages. Emotional intelligence has been an undervalued predictor of success in life, when compared to intellectual ability. The values we need our kids to embrace all combine to create a future society of individuals who will be involved in their communities and will value each other. Academic achievement must be layered on a healthy foundation of 'character' fundamentals."

  Brazil, a former home entertainment merchandising and marketing executive and a mother of three, developed "TimeOut Tot: The Behavior Coach" as the culmination of an 18 year study of early childhood development. The DVD project was inspired by her experiences rearing her special needs son.  

  Shifting Vantage Points  

  Where you stand on the issue of academics vs. character depends largely on where you sit -- and whether children are sitting beside you. Respondents without a child in the household were substantially more likely to favor an emphasis on academics (40 percent to 29 percent). Significantly, those with kids were more likely to place character development front-and-center (36 percent to 31 percent).

  Similarly, married respondents narrowly favored character development (35 percent to 33 percent). By contrast, unmarried placed intellectual pursuits ahead of character issues by a wide margin (41 percent to 27 percent).

  On a gender basis, the Mars/Venus split surfaced with clarity, with men giving a big thumbs up to academics over character development (40 percent to 28 percent), while women were evenly divided between the two at 34 percent.

  With a touch of irony, those with post-graduate degrees are the most enthusiastic proponents of character development over academics (45 percent to 33 percent). Perhaps not surprisingly, those with a high school education or less took the opposite view, favoring cognitive development decisively (39 percent to 22 percent).

  Socio-economic status also comes into play in the debate, in a major way. Those with household incomes of $50,000 or less placed the focus on intellectual pursuits by a 17-point margin, while respondents earning $75,000 or more put the accent on character development.  

  Other key survey findings:  

  --  The younger Baby Boomers (35-44) marked the only age group to         place character development ahead of academics. Conversely,         older Americans chose academics by wider margins than any         other age group (12 points for those 55-64, 16 percent for         those over 65).  

  --  While whites and non-whites agreed that the emphasis should be         on intellectual pursuits over character development, they did         so by decidedly different margins -- 2 percent and 18 percent,         respectively.  

  --  On a regional basis, only respondents in the Midwest viewed         the academic/character tradeoff with near-parity. Academics         were clearly preferred by those in the Northeast, Southeast         and West.  

  The Pausitive Programs/Synovate character development survey has a margin of error of +/- 2 percent. A copy of the survey results is available on request by sending an email to info@edgepress.com.  

  About Pausitive Programs  

  Based in San Marino, Calif., Pausitive Programs LLC creates, markets and distributes products as part of a unique behavior program aimed at nurturing character, manners, good behavior and social development in young children. Company founder Ann R. Brazil, a mother of three, was inspired to develop the program by her extraordinary experiences rearing one son with special needs and another with leukemia. The company's flagship product, "TimeOut Tot: The Behavior Coach," is an award-winning interactive DVD that not only advises caregivers but talks directly to preschool-age children who have been sent to time out. Tot, a friendly neighborhood squirrel, made by a Jim Henson puppet maker, gently communicates with story and song, teaching right from wrong through visually simulating six different common misbehaviors in children. For additional information, visit www.timeouttot.com.

CONTACT:Edge Communications, Inc. Jamie Brown, 626-791-5755 brownlink@earthlink.net         or Ken Greenberg, 818-719-9292 ken@edgepress.com

SOURCE: Pausitive Programs LLC

04/22/2004 09:00 EASTERN