Toddler Television Troubles

Stardate 4197.5

CHICAGO - Too much TV-watching can harm children’s ability to learn and even reduce their chances of getting a college degree, three new studies suggest in the latest effort to examine the effects of television on kids.

Critics faulted the research for not adequately considering the content of the TV watched, but experts said it bolsters advice that children shouldn’t have TVs in their rooms.

One of the studies involved nearly 400 northern California third-graders. Those with TVs in their bedrooms scored about eight points lower on math and language arts tests than children without bedroom TVs.

A second study, looking at nearly 1,000 adults in New Zealand, found lower education levels among 26-year-olds who had watched lots of TV during childhood.

Apparently, very young children (2 and under) should not watch any television, and older kids should not watch more than 2 hours of quality programming a day. Interestingly enough, kids with a home computer in their room instead of a television, scored much higher on average than the kids with a tv or both. Of course these studies are not definitive but do show that the telelvision (and programming obviously) can have an effect on young people's learning and schoolwork...