TV ADDICTION

TV ADDICTION

Among American children, television ranks second to sleeping as a consumer of
hours. The average American, both child and adult, watches more than six hours of
T.V daily.

What effect does habitual viewing have on children ? Wilkins gives, as examples,
studies that have reported a relationship between increased watching and decreased
learning, between violence on T.V and aggressive behavior. Wilkins approvingly
refers to a famous psychologist who once said : "The danger of T.V lies not so
much in the behavior it produces as in the behavior it prevents. " Some examples :
communication between parent and child, the capacity to entertain oneself, the ability to express ideas logically [ … ]. T.V, suggests Wilkins, doesn't cut children from reality, it becomes their reality, more vivid than the world to which it supposedly refers.

What are the signs of addiction ? According to Wilkins, there are some key clues. Do
the children come straight home from school and turn on T.V ? Do they watch more
than ten hours a week ? As for parents, many of the same symptoms apply.

Earlier this year, Wilkins conducted a week-long abstinence cure with elementary
school kids in Ridgewood. Some families began and gave up ; several frustrated
mothers furtively watched their favorite programs. In general, parents seemed to
suffer holding from T.V more acutely than their children .

It was T.V critic Michael Arlen who said that television connects viewers to nothing
except the idea of being connected to something. Wilkins's advice : to reconnect
yourself to the world, disconnect the set.