Media Bad for Kids

I am surprised to learn kids these days spend more time in media--like the T.V. and computer--than most of us spend at work! We have tried to limit the T.V. watching, but it seems to be getting worse at our house instead of better!

From CNN: A warning to parents -- You may want to pry your child's fingers off the remote. A new study finds watching too much TV or playing video games can have a negative impact on your child's health. Kids watching TV, playing video games, surfing the Internet- harmless pastimes? Or dangerous distractions? " Those have public health and health consequences for children, in terms of obesity, beginning to smoke, beginning sexual activity, academic achievement, drug and alcohol use."

Bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel, brother of president-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, is a lead researcher on a study by the National Institutes of Health and other groups, detailing media's effects on children."

As little as eight hours a week, begin to show, give you this negative health outcome. The average kid in the united states spends about 45 hours a week in media." The findings were culled from nearly 200 studies conducted over 30 years, with more than 80-percent revealing negative outcomes. " A large number of these associations is simply the number of hours watched, separate from the content and what's actually on television, or in the Internet. just simply time."

Psychiatrist Charles Sophy contends media is ok for kids, in moderation, "We need the media. There is a good point to it. So limit it and watch what your child is watching." Dr. Emanuel and the nonprofit group Common Sense Media, which backed the study, agree parents should take a more active role in limiting their kids' exposure, but insist the government also needs to intervene."

There's no research on new digital media - cell phones, ipods, the Internet - and it's real impact on kids' health so there needs to be a whole new set of research on that. Second, there oughta be media education and media literacy in every school in the united states."

Until that happens, the president elect has a word of advice for parents, "We're going to have to turn off our TV sets and we're going to have to put away our video games."

We just bought new DVD players for the car. The old one we had wasn't working. Now, every time we get in the car we have to argue about whether the T.V. should be on. I think I am going to have to take it out unless we are going on a long trip. IMO, we don't need to be watching it on the five minute trip to school! This is a good reminder to me to limit the cartoons at my house.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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