National TV Turnoff week Apr 19-26

Dallas Morning News ^ | Apr 17, 2004 | Steve Blow

[nonomous]

If they turn off the tube, could their lives improve?

01:20 PM CDT on Saturday, April 17, 2004

By STEVE BLOW / The Dallas Morning News

A job in journalism takes you into a lot of different homes. And I mean from mansions to shacks.

One thing I noticed almost from the very start – the poorer the home, the more prevalent the television.

By that, I partly mean the television set itself. I was surprised to go into tiny, ramshackle homes and find an enormous, big-screen television wedged into the living room.

But more than that, I noticed that in poor homes, the television blares constantly.

In well-to-do homes, TVs are hardly in evidence. And though I know the TV must be there somewhere, it's certainly turned off before my arrival. The house is quiet. Conversation is paramount.

But you go into poor folks' homes, and so often that TV is blaring when you get there, it blares all the way through your interview, and it's still going strong when you leave.

Usually my interview subjects seem oblivious to the TV racket. But I've actually had people half-watching the TV while also talking to me for a story.

I had always shrugged this off as simply a socioeconomic curiosity. But lately I'm wondering if it's a matter of socioeconomic destiny.

In other words: Do poor people stay poor in part because of that blaring television?

More importantly, does excessive TV cause poor children to remain in poverty?

I guess television has been blamed for everything – from bad eyes to the collapse of Western civilization. And I don't want to exaggerate this matter. But these seem like questions worth pondering.

They come to mind because tomorrow begins the 10th annual TV-Turnoff Week. It's a movement that has gained momentum over the last decade. But in this TV culture of ours, it still feels like battling a fire hose with an eyedropper.

Meanwhile, the last decade has brought more and more evidence about the damaging effects of television.

Just two weeks ago, the first study was published showing a clear link between early childhood TV viewing and attention deficit disorders in school-age children.

The study looked at the television viewing time of a group of 1-year-olds and a group of 3-year-olds. Then it tracked them until they were 7.

Get this: For every hour per day they watched TV at age 1 or 3, the risk of having an attention disorder rose 9 percent.

Let me say it again: A 9 percent greater risk of ADD for every hour of TV viewing!

It's funny how we will go to great lengths to install cabinet locks and car seats to protect our children. We worry endlessly about the quality of our schools. But we shrug off solid proof that TV is hurting them...

[ChocChipCookie]

Thanks for posting this. As we speak, I am weaning my two very young kids off TV and onto more playtime and occasional videos.

[Diddle E. Squat]

"....It's funny how we will go to great lengths to install cabinet locks and car seats to protect our children. We worry endlessly about the quality of our schools. But we shrug off solid proof that TV is hurting them.

Earlier studies showed a clear link between TV viewing time and problems at school. The more a child watched, the greater the behavioral and academic problems.

Other studies have shown that TV-viewing time correlates with obesity and other health problems.

And here's where my concern about poor children enters the picture. It's not just my imagination that they watch more television. One study showed that kids from low-income families watch about 50 percent more TV per day than high-income kids.

Social problems. School problems. Health problems. Sounds like a formula for staying stuck in poverty to me.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children watch no more than two hours of TV per day – and that children under 2 not watch at all.

You can learn more about limiting TV at www.tvturnoff.org and www.tvturnoffdallas.org.

But here's the challenge: How do we get this message to poor families?

They're busy watching TV."

[Cedar]

I lived for 8 years without a TV. Did a lot of reading, listening to music. Actually seems I was more creative during those years -- writing music myself, taking up oil painting. Definitely good years. I hope to get back to it again sometime in the near future.

[clee1]

Wait a sec......

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water!

I think the "quantity" of TV viewing is getting an undeserved rap; the QUALITY of the content is the true culprit, IMHO.

If all you watch is pro sports and the Cartoon Network, with a side-dish of T&A, washed down by guts and violence; CERTAINLY alot of viewing is a bad thing.

However, channels like History, TLC, Discovery, etc. and a balanced view of the national/international news (shameless FOX plug) aren't necessarily bad - even in large doses.