This week's professional study concluding the obvious:
CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. youths who watch television on weekdays tend to do worse in school than those who don't watch during the week, but weekend viewing appears to have no negative effects on schoolwork, researchers said on Monday.
The study of 4,508 middle school students ranging in age from 9 to 15 years also found schoolwork suffered among those allowed to watch adult, or R-rated, movies and cable channels with adult programming.
I guess I shouldn't make too much fun of the study, since it did provide the solution to the problem we've all been waiting for: Parents should limit their children's weeknight TV viewing! They should probably ask about their children's homework, too, but let's wait and see what the next study says.
Comments
There is a bit of truth to that study, however blatantly obvious, as my TV viewing during the school week was limited by THREE very important factors:
1) My Mother
2) My Father
3) Fifties-era television choices ;)
The main thing was that any HOMEWORK (yes, we had THAT back then as well...and plenty of it too) was completed BEFORE going outside to play, or watching television.
Nonetheless, we had plenty of shows where gunplay was acted out, and had (in our posession) enough toy guns to fill an armory, but that did NOT lead to an entire generation of stupid, uneducated, violent felons....
The ones from my era that did poorly in school were (usually) the ones that didn't pay attention, didn't do the assignments, were disruptive and unruly.
Wow...that sounds a LOT like today's classrooms....!
But add to THIS mix the dysfunctional (if even present) TWO parent households, the plethora of "adult-oriented" media on the radio, TV, or video games, the apparent "easy" access to firearms, a total disregard for authority in ANY form, children raising children, and a lack of PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY...
And then you have what every one of us sees on the streets, reads in the papers, sees online, or views on the television.
That's obvious.
And THAT is not a pretty picture, no matter what medium is applied or what size brush is used to paint it.
B.G.