Americans are wired as never before. Almost all households own at least one television and one DVD player. One-third to one-half of young children have a television in their bedroom, as do two-thirds of teens and pre-teens. Nearly 80 percent of households have cable or satellite television, as well as a computer. More families have internet access than have newspaper subscriptions. More than 50 percent of households have a video game player, and video game sales now total $10 billion annually!

Consuming media now far surpasses creative, active, and social pursuits as the average American child's favorite pastime. Children spend more time sitting in front of screen-based media than any other activity besides sleeping. Between television, video games and computers, the average child logs in 40 hours of screen time every week; this is especially disheartening when you consider that the average child spends only 45 minutes reading each day, including while at school.

Screen media have replaced parents as the mainstream culture in our children's lives. As American parents are increasingly overworked and overstressed, it has come to be less that we are letting our children watch television, and more that we are asking television to watch our kids. It is not a matter of being a 'good' parent or a 'bad' parent; it is simply one result of our societal failure to value and protect the rights of parents to enjoy quality time with their children.

The bottom line is that we're raising a generation of children wired but disconnected.

Screen time is time usually spent alone. As the aloneness of screen time replaces the togetherness of family or friend time, detachment replaces attachment. Even if other children are present, watching television together is no more than shared aloneness.

Trust in others comes from a childhood of shared life experiences. Endless hours of mindless screen time amounts only to a childhood filled with empty experiences. Given that the primary purpose of childhood is to develop competencies for life, children who are raised detached from humanity are less likely as adults to be capable of empathy and consideration, and less willing or able to contribute in meaningful ways to their communities.

Our children's window on the world is now largely through the eyes of advertisers and media corporations. Through television, they see a world of crime and violence and hatred. They also see a world of fast-paced entertaining commercials with glamorous people or cartoon characters convincing them that happiness comes from having things they don't really need. They see a dizzying array of foods they shouldn't really have for good health.

In fact, it is startling to realize that the average child sees almost 20,000 commericals each year!

Of course, advertisers are not evil people with evil designs to corrupt our youth. They just want to make money, by making children loyal to their brand for life.

McDonald's Corporation has perhaps been the most successful at doing just that. The character of Ronald McDonald is now second only to Santa Claus in name recognition among American children. Parents and children alike are baited and hooked by the inexpensive Happy Meal, which includes some promotional toy or figurine - often a character devised by another media giant, Disney Corporation.

Untold billions of dollars are spent annually by the food and drink industries on marketing aimed at children. Kids are daily bombarded by virtually irresistible messages that say, in effect, 'Eat/Drink this now!' Combined with all those hours of sedentary screen time, it's not surprising that the number of obese American children has doubled during just the past twenty years.

Studies have even confirmed that the incidence of obesity is highest among children who watch four or more hours of screen-based media daily, and lowest among children watching an hour or less each day.

It's past time for parents to take actions that will tell advertisers and corporations to stay away from our children. As Elizabeth Thoman, founder and president of the Center for Media Literacy, so eloquently once stated: 'Parents should treat the media no differently than they would a stranger who knocks on their door and asks to play with their children.'

Limit children's exposure to television commericals by encouraging them to watch public broadcasting. Teach critical media skills by explaining to kids that commercials are simply actors trying to persuade people to buy things they may not really need.

Take the television out of the bedroom. Limit the child's total screen time, including television, computers, and video games, to less than two hours daily. Limit everyone's total television time to less than two hours daily - there's nothing worse than the dreaded 'do as I say, not as I do' style of parenting!

Television and video games are little more than mental fast food. Give your child's brain something better to grow on by exposing them to alternative forms of entertainment media uninfluenced by advertising: art exhibits, dance and music performances, stage productions and poetry readings, for example.

Encourage creative play, dressing up make-believe, and competitive and non-competitive exercise. Encourage children to create and perform their own live television shows for a family audience. Develop a craft and hobby center in the home. Foster children as doers and creators rather than as shoppers and buyers.

Get a library card. Reward children weekly for averaging at least one hour of reading each day while at home. Subscribe to kid magazines. They're cheaper than cable subscriptions, they encourage reading, and what child doesn't love getting mail!

Resist the emphasis on brands and icons by limiting the purchase of clothing and other items emblazoned with company logos. Unless children are paid to do so, they should not be advertising for corporations.

In our increasingly commerical culture, childhood innocence has become overmatched by corporate omni-presence. Unless parents take a stand against the repetitious bombardment of ads targeting children, our kids don't stand a chance.