Experts fear effects of media spotlight on 'balloon boy' By Stephanie Chen CNN Decrease font Decrease font Enlarge font Enlarge font (CNN) -- The young child known as the "balloon boy" appeared sickly on NBC's "Today" show Friday morning. With his eyes adrift, 6-year-old Falcon Heene leaned his tiny head against his father before he vomited -- right in front of the cameras. The saga of the boy believed to be floating inside a giant silver balloon adrift over Colorado captivated a world audience. And the media spotlight has stayed on him. After the boy was discovered safe and sound in his family's attic, his parents have continued to place him in front of TV cameras. Falcon's vomiting incident followed an earlier TV segment on "Good Morning America" where the boy, wrapped in a gray fleece sweatshirt, looked exhausted. "Falcon, you OK there?" asked concerned anchor Diane Sawyer. "No. Mom, I feel like I'm going to vomit," Falcon replied. Ann Mullis, professor of family and child sciences at Florida State University, said "the vomiting could be due to nervousness, stress or some illness, but a continual push for a person to be in front of the media and do things that aren't developmentally appropriate can be stressful to a young child. He's only 6 years old." Other child and developmental psychology experts warn that too much media exposure can be harmful. They worry that the spotlight could skew the child's sense of self-identity and negatively affect his or her development ...
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