Parenting

Media expert Michael Rich, MD, MPH, director of the Center on Media and Child Health at Children’s Hospital Boston, answers your questions about media use.

Q: The previews for the new Disney movie Alice in Wonderland seem a little scary (particularly the music and goth costuming/make-up). However, the movie is rated PG. Is it too scary for children ages 5-10? What age do you think is old enough to see this film? Any other comments for parents considering taking their kids to see this film?
-What about Alice? from JustAsk.com

A: Dear What about Alice,

Bullying is an ancient problem, right? Yes. Yes, it is. Bullying has been around for as long…well, as long as there have been kids, probably. So what’s new? Actually, a lot more than you might think.

While the problem of bullying is old, the severity of the problem is growing and the methods used by bullies, particularly with the advent of new technologies available to children and adolescents, have become more stealth and difficult for parents and educators to detect. However, the news is not all bad. There is simultaneously a call to arms from pediatric specialty groups (the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center, the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration) to increase vigilance to the problem and to advocate for victims of bullying.

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which is the leading cause of death for infants between 1 and 12 months old in the United States, has long mystified doctors and researchers.

Now, after more than 20 years of research, researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston are taking the next step and have linked SIDS with low production of serotonin in the brainstem. The findings, published in the Feb. 3 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association, may give a concrete approach to identifying babies at risk for SIDS.

In the brainstem, serotonin helps regulate some of the body’s involuntary actions, such as breathing, heart rate and blood pressure during sleep. The researchers, led by Children’s neuropathologist Hannah Kinney, MD, believe that a low serotonin level impairs the function of the brainstem circuits that regulate these activities, putting a baby at risk for sudden death from stresses such as rebreathing carbon dioxide when sleeping in the face down position.

Lizzie and Lucy are 6 year old fraternal twins. Both have thick auburn curls and chocolate brown eyes but that’s where the similarity ends. They are fraternal twins and are like all other siblings in that they have different personalities, talents and temperaments. They are especially close, as most twins are, since they were born together, and together they learned that a cry leads to mommy’s attention, smiling begets another smile and anger both engages and pushes people away. They are each other’s almost constant companion. Lizzie and Lucy know each other better than even their parents know them. They are exquisitely sensitive to each other’s feelings, wants and desires. They are deeply empathic towards one another and they can also push each other’s buttons like no one else can.