© 2024 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY · WNPR
WPKT · WRLI-FM · WEDW-FM · Public Files Contact
ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Cancer Answers is hosted by Dr. Anees Chagpar, Associate Professor of Surgical Oncology and Director of The Breast Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven Hospital, and Dr. Francine Foss, Professor of Medical Oncology. The show features a guest cancer specialist who will share the most recent advances in cancer therapy and respond to listeners questions. Myths, facts and advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment are discussed, with a different focus eachweek. Nationally acclaimed specialists in various types of cancer research, diagnosis, and treatment discuss common misconceptions about the disease and respond to questions from the community.Listeners can submit questions to be answered on the program at canceranswers@yale.edu or by leaving a message at (888) 234-4YCC. As a resource, archived programs from 2006 through the present are available in both audio and written versions on the Yale Cancer Center website.

Yale Hosts Talk On Importance of Play for Children

Pasco County Schools
/
Creative Commons

For years, mothers have been telling their children to turn off the TV and go do something. 

That's excellent advice, as it turns out, especially now that TV is just one of the screens vying for kids' attention. There’s much more to hands-on play than we realize, according to CarlaHorwitz of Calvin Hill Day Care Center in New Haven.

"When children are playing in the block corner, they’re actually doing math," Horwitz said. "They’re doing sorting; they’re doing categorizing; they’re working with balance; they’re working with symmetry."

Diane Levin, professor of early childhood education at Wheelock College in Boston, is a leading expert on children’s play. She said the effects of too much screen time can lead to a lack of creativity and problem-solving, starting at a very early age.

Kids "poke the Play Doh and say, what does it do?" she said. "They’re used to having things show them what to do, or when they watch screens and things happen, they don’t have to come up with their own ideas."

Levin advocates for the benefits of unstructured play.

"In the long run, it makes them more self-sufficient," Levin said. "It makes them be better problem-solvers, intellectually, socially, or emotionally. When they do end up having screens to do the kind of tasks where screens can really enhance what they’re doing, they have better skills for using them."

Educators agree the prevalence of technology can complicate the issue, with parents often being the worst role models. Carla Horwitz warns, technology can even create missed opportunities.

"I see parents walking down the street pushing strollers, the parent’s on the phone, and the toddler’s on their own," Horwitz said. "You know, they see the world, but there’s nobody there to mediate, interpret, help them understand it, Because it’s hard to take pleasure in what they’re seeing together, since they’re not seeing the same thing."

Yale University is hosting a talk by Diane Levin called Endangered Play, Endangered Development: Why Play is Even More Important in the 21st Century,May 4 at 6:30 pm at the Yale School of Management.

Lori Connecticut Public's Morning Edition host.

Stand up for civility

This news story is funded in large part by Connecticut Public’s Members — listeners, viewers, and readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

We hope their support inspires you to donate so that we can continue telling stories that inform, educate, and inspire you and your neighbors. As a community-supported public media service, Connecticut Public has relied on donor support for more than 50 years.

Your donation today will allow us to continue this work on your behalf. Give today at any amount and join the 50,000 members who are building a better—and more civil—Connecticut to live, work, and play.

Related Content