The following are editorial opinions from newspapers from around the world which may be of interest to Royal Gazette readers.

The Ottawa (Ontario) Sun–on teens headed in the wrong direction

The kids are all right? Bull. They're not and we're to blame. For years now it's been plain to anyone with eyes that children and teenagers are gradually getting lazier, fatter, less respectful of authority and narcissistic.

The evidence is everywhere: In schools, playgrounds, on the ice and in the courts.

Academics have had a field-day with this. They churn out study after study linking excessive screen time — TV, web networking and video games — with a slew of emotional, behavioural and physical ailments, led by obesity. It's a worldwide problem.

Researchers in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou recently found 13-to-18-year-olds who spent more than five hours a day on the Web were one-and-a-half times more likely to suffer depression than moderate users.

No wonder they're depressed. Who wouldn't be, staring at a screen all day, lost in a world that isn't real. ...

Col. Dave Grossman, former US Army psychiatrist and world-leading author on the effects and causes of violence, argues video games are teaching US teens to kill — without pity and without remorse, while at the same time turning them into couch whales.

That bodes well for the future, eh? But it makes sense. ... Coupled with this we have a school system that drills children with the mantra they can do no wrong. So when a parent or teacher comes along and says get off your behind, go kick a ball, they're met with blank stares — at best. ...

Let's pressure the school boards to reintroduce deportment and basic discipline as core objectives of education. And let's talk about a year of compulsory military or community service at age 18. Most of all let's stop pointing the finger and get off our own lazy, lard-layered butts.