Monday, March 10, 2008
Posted by:
Michael Medved
at
2:17 AM
Those parents who choose to place television sets in their children’s bedrooms sharply increase the risks for negative outcomes on a wide range of physiological, emotional, and academic measures. Collating stunning research from the world’s leading journals of pediatric and adolescent medicine, the Science Section of the New York Times (3-4-2008) concluded: “Children with bedroom TV’s score lower on school tests and are more likely to have sleep problems. Having a television in the bedroom is strongly associated with being overweight and a higher risk for smoking.” One alarming study of kids between the ages of 4 and 7, showed that placing a TV in the bedroom increased weekly viewing by nearly nine hours – from 21 hours, to 30. In these circumstances, children read less, and make less progress in school. What’s more, parents don’t keep track of what kids watch in their own rooms, or how much time they spend on the tube. Dr. Leonard Epstein, professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine and Biomedical Science at the State University of New York at Buffalo, unequivocally declares: "I think it matters quite a lot. There are all kinds of problems that occur when kids have TV's in their bedroom." For instance, a 2002 study in the journal "Pediatrics" showed that the presence of bedroom TV's showed a greatly increased risk of problems with overweight and obesity -- especially for boys. Another study, this one in 2007 and also published in "Pediatrics," showed that middle school students 12-to-14 with bedroom televisions were more than twice as likely to start smoking as those without TV's -- even after controlling for such risk factors as having a parent or friend who smoked. It’s therefore deeply worrisome that a survey of third-graders at all income levels showed 70% of them with TV’s in the bedroom. For twenty years in books, articles and lectures I've been pleading for all parents who care about their kids to keep TV's out of their bedrooms, and if they're already there, then to fight the difficult fight that's necessary to remove them. Few changes at home will benefit your family more immediately or more reliably than getting rid of television sets from every bedroom in the house.