The last car I owned had three bumper stickers on it, all dead-center on the rear end, one above the other.
DIE MTV DIE
KILL YOUR TV
TELEVISION IS DRUGS
It appears that my sentiments now have the backing of scientific research showing that television causes ‘attention problems’ in young children.
Early television exposure in children ages 1-3 is associated with attention problems at age 7, according to a study from Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle published in the April issue of PEDIATRICS. The study revealed that each hour of television watched per day at ages 1-3 increases the risk of attention problems, such as ADHD, by almost 10 percent at age 7. The study controls for other attributes of the home environment including cognitive stimulation and emotional support.
… The AAP recommends parents avoid letting their children under the age of 2 years watch television and that parents exert caution — such as setting limits on TV viewing, helping children develop media literacy skills to question, analyze and evaluate TV messages, and taking an active role in their children’s TV viewing — in children over the age of 2.
A Seattle P-I editorial mentions that some 3 year olds in the study were watching 12 or more hours of television a day.
Twelve or more?
My lord.
I wish I still had a copy of this, but years ago I saw an editorial cartoon called “The Pacifier” that showed a toddler sitting on the floor with dazed, glazed-over eyes, with a pacifier created from a television crammed into his mouth. I ended up turning that cartoon into a t-shirt (which I still have — the cartoon is by Jim Morin of the Miami Herald, unfortunately I can’t find a date on the cartoon to see if a copy might be available online anywhere). People who treat their children like this — and I’ve known more than a few — have always disturbed me, and while I’m sure I whined about it when I was younger, I’m very glad parents kept stricter controls over the viewing habits of my brother and I when we were growing up.
iTunes: “Light (Fat Back)” by K.M.F.D.M. from the album Light (1994, 7:29).