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DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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family portrait
Talia and Ari Dolgin,
Birmingham
Talia and An Dolgin recently
moved to Birmingham after living
in Chicago for eight years. An is
from New York and Talia grew up
in the Metro Detroit area. They met
at the University of Michigan. The
Dolgin's moved back to Michigan
to be near family, to become active
members of Temple Israel and
to be surrounded by a wonderful
Jewish community. Talia is currently
working as a speech pathologist and An is a commodities trader. They love spending time with
friends and family, enjoy being outdoors and traveling. The Dolgins are thrilled to be back in
Michigan and are excited about starting the next chapter of their lives in such a welcoming
community!
neighborhood happenings
tickets available for purchase. All proceeds
support the Ronald McDonald House of
Detroit, which provides a "home away from
home" for families whose children are hos-
pitalized nearby with serious illnesses. For
more information, call the Ronald McDonald
House of Detroit, (313) 745-5909 to pre-
register or visit www.rmhc-detroit.org .
MICHIGAN RENAISSANCE
FESTIVAL
Saturday, Aug. 21- Sunday, Oct. 3
Holly, Ml
This annual event takes you back in time to
the Renaissance era with knights and old
villager attire. Festival is held on weekends
and Labor Day, rain or shine. Visitors may
also partake in games of skill or enjoy non-
stop entertainment where belly dancers,
sword swallowers, musicians, comedians
and sword fighters provide merriment for all
ages. For more information,
www.michrenfest.com
SHABBAT IN THE PARK
Friday, Sept 3, 6-8 p.m,
Burns Park, Ann Arbor
Don't miss out on this great YAD tradition
with the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann
Arbor! Set aside one evening to rediscover
the difference between the ordinary and the
extraordinary. For more info, contact
Cindy Adams at 734-677-0100;
cindy@jewishannarbor.org .
BEEKEEPING 101
Saturday, Aug. 21, 10 a.m.
Lloyd A. Stage Nature Center, Troy
Take part in National Honeybee Awareness
Day by learning from expert beekeeper
Dennis Holly of Holly Honey Farms.
Cost: $17/non-residents, $12/residents. For
more information, (248) 524-3567.
Arts, Beats & Eats
3rd ANNUAL CHILDRENS DAY
RALLY 2010
Sunday, Aug. 29
Beginning at the McDonald House,
2985 Walton Blvd, Rochester
Ending at Christie's Bar and Grill, 95
E Clarkston Road, Lake Orion.
Take a ride for charity and support the
Ronald McDonald House of Detroit.
Participants can drive on their own or
choose from the 10 a.m., 11 a.m. or noon
pack rides. The rally will end with food, drink
specials and live music. Cost: $20/rider,
includes one raffle ticket. Additional raffle
Friday, Sept 3-Monday, Sept 6
Downtown Royal Oak - NEW
LOCATION!
Entering its 13th year in a new location,
the Arts, Beats & Eats festival continues its
tradition of being Metro Detroit's entertain-
ment destination of choice over Labor Day
Weekend. This year in downtown Royal
Oak, the four-day festival features local and
national musical acts, fine art exhibitors from
across the United States and mouth-
watering culinary offerings from some of
metro Detroit's best restaurants and cater-
ers. Many new attractions are expected to
be unveiled throughout the summer and
leading up to the festival date.
www.artsbeatseats.com
The Electronic Babysitter
With the boom of new screen tech-nolo-
gy, kids are spending more time then ever
with the gadgets made available to them.
From iPads, the wii, to just plain old TV,
there is never a shortage of screen-based
entertainment — and experts say that
this can't be doing anything good for our
kids.
Most kids venture into the world
of technology long before they enter
school. According to the Kaiser Family
Foundation (KFF):
• 2/3 of infants and
toddlers watch a screen
an average of two
hours a day
• Kids under age 6
watch an average of
about two hours of
screen media a day,
primarily TV, videos or
DVDs
j rid
• Kids and teens
8-18 years spend
nearly four hours a day
in front of a TV screen
and almost two addi-
tional hours on the computer (outside of
schoolwork) playing video games.
This is substantially more than The
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
recommends. Their guidelines suggest
that children under age 2 not watch
or engage in any screen time at all and
that those older than 2 limit their daily
viewing to a two-hour maximum. It is
recommended that during a child's first
two years, TV and other such media
can affect important social and physical
development processes.
After a certain age, often 2 years old,
children are prone to become less inter-
ested in social engagement and are overly
saturated and stimulated in screen-based
activities such as TV, videos, computers,
handhelds and cell phones. The result is
a decreased interest in physical activity,
social exploration and a negative effect
on schoolwork.
This is not to say that there are no
benefits at all to the new developments
in technology, or that children and teens
should not be put in front of screen tech-
nology in some cases. With educational
programming, kids can be assisted in
their learning at school and at home, and
toddlers can start learning colors and
shapes with Baby Einstein before they
even start a playgroup.
But despite these obvious advantages,
the fact that the balance is so out of
whack that kids are spending more than
the recommended time in front of the
tube to entertain themselves is causing
our community severe consequences —
namely, childhood obesity.
Here are some ways to enforce healthy
screen time habits in your home:
1. Track the amount of
time your kids are spend-
ing in front of the screen
(track TV, computer,
Nintendo DS, etc. sepa-
rately).
2. Explain the importance
of moving your body and
how it can affect your
health and energy. Set a
good example of incor-
porating more physical
activity/ less screen time
in your own life.
3. Set official "House Rules" for screen
time. If you show your kids you stick to
the rules, too, they will be more likely to
do the same.
4. Create screen-free bedrooms. Kids
who have a screen in their room spend
almost two hours more in front of it then
those who don't.
5. Turn off the TV during family meals.
This can be a critical time for families
to talk to each other, and often the only
time to catch up on their day.
6. Help prevent kids from making screen
time their go-to entertainment habit.
Make sure to have ideas ready for your
kids for activities to do.
7. Don't involve screen time in punish-
ments and rewards. Don't encourage your
kids to think screen time is more impor-
tant than it actually is!
For more information on the Kaiser
Family Foundation, please visit www.
kff. org. For more information on The
American Academy of Pediatrics, please
visit www.aap.org .
If you would like to submit any events, information or would like to be featured in our section, please contact Rachel Lachover at (248) 351-5156 or
rlachover@thejewishnews.com . JOIN US ON FACEBOOK; search our group name and fan page "SE MICHIGAN JEWISH ALLIANCE"
August 19 • 2010
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