Endangered Minds: Why Children Don't Think And What We Can Do About It [Paperback]

Jane M. Healy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 1999

Is today's fast-paced media culture creating a toxic environment for our children's brains?

In this landmark, bestselling assessment tracing the roots of America's escalating crisis in education, Jane M. Healy, Ph.D., examines how television, video games, and other components of popular culture compromise our children's ability to concentrate and to absorb and analyze information. Drawing on neuropsychological research and an analysis of current educational practices, Healy presents in clear, understandable language:

-- How growing brains are physically shaped by experience

-- Why television programs -- even supposedly educational shows like Sesame Street -- develop "habits of mind" that place children at a disadvantage in school

-- Why increasing numbers of children are diagnosed with attention deficit disorder

-- How parents and teachers can make a critical difference by making children good learners from the day they are born

Editorial Reviews

Review

Louise Bates Ames Gesell Institute of Human Development Provocative, scholarly, and timely. Society may actually be changing our children's brains for the worse.

Priscilla Vail author of Smart Kids with School Problems Endangered Minds is a masterly blend of scientific knowledge, educational expertise, psychological insight, and common sense....Jane Healy sounds warnings we should all heed, and offers priorities and strategies compatible with the nature of childhood and the flowering of intellect.

Educational Leadership A fascinating exploration of today's much-deplored decline in school achievement....[Healy] clearly conveys the relationship between language, learning, and brain development, then explains why television viewing and present-day lifestyles sabotage language acquisition, thinking, and personal success.

About the Author

Jane M. Healy, Ph.D. is a teacher and educational psychologist who has worked with young people of all ages, from pre-school to graduate school. She has been a classroom teacher, reading and learning specialist, school administrator, and clinician. She is currently a lecturer and consultant, and the author of three books about how children do (and don’t) learn, Your Child’s Growing Mind, Endangered Minds, and Failure to Connect. She and her work have been featured in national media such as CNN and NPR. She has twice been named “Educator of the Year” by Delta Kappa Gamma, the professional honor society of women educators.  Jane and her husband claim they have learned most of what they know from raising three sons and enjoying six grandchildren.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1 edition (October 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684856204
• ISBN-13: 978-0684856209
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #173,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

84 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Giving Kids a Great Start, November 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Endangered Minds: Why Children Don't Think And What We Can Do About It (Paperback)

I read this book over 8 years ago. It really opened my mind to how I wanted to raise my children with respect to television, family time, over commitments, and developmental learning. I have two children ages 8 and 10. They are both at the top of their respective classes, they love to learn and they love to read. They are able to carry-on intelligent conversation at the dinner table and with others that they deal with. They had very little TV exsposure as pre-schoolers, and now TV is limited to the weekends only. I credit this book with guiding me to be a better parent in regards to their academic development. I recommend this book to any new parent. Gain control of the TV and computer games before they take hold of your children's minds.

57 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you let your kids watch "good TV", don't read this book, May 26, 2002

By 

Sandi Jones (Cincinnati, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Endangered Minds: Why Children Don't Think And What We Can Do About It (Paperback)

If you are an advocate of letting your children watch "good TV", like PBS, this book will be a hard pill to swallow. I read it years ago, and loved it. I occasionally go back and reread a passage or two.

She discusses brain development in children at great length. She cites some of the studies that indicate that children who view Sesame Street on a regular basis, express shorter attention spans than those who do not view such programming.

I liked much of the in-depth physiological brain developmental information.

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Definately a "must read" for parents and teachers., August 27, 2003

By 

John Winter - See all my reviews

This review is from: Endangered Minds: Why Children Don't Think And What We Can Do About It (Paperback)

I would highly recommend this book to both parents and teacher alike. Healy maintains an interesting writing style throughout the text, and actively engages her audience. While I do feel the text is rather long, it doesn't dissolve into random banter. The book stays focused until the end, providing many provoking lines of thought. For instance: Since the introduction of standardized schooling over a hundred years ago, the rate of literacy has radically declined. How did we go from a nation of unschooled but highly literate people, to a nation of overschooled and illiterate people? Such illuminations, beg discussion.