Basic HTML Version
KIDSANDTV–
Putting Things In Focus
Television can be an effective too/ for educating your children- or it can be harmful. Which role
does television play in your home?
N
o one is suggesting that
television be banned for
children. But comments
like the following show something
is not right:
" 1
can't live without television,"
exclaimed 8-year-old Elizabeth .
She and her second-grade class–
mates spent an experimental day
without TV just to see what would
happen. " 1 can't stay away for
more than an hour," Elizabeth
declared. The experience affected
her so deeply she was unable to ea
t.
So she simply stared at the blank
TV screen all day and pretended
her favorite programs wereon.
"Every minute seemed like a
whole month," said Donny, a fel-
October
1
November 1980
by
Clayton Steep
low second grader. He got so
bored during the experiment he
picked fights with his brother to
kili time. In no uncertain terms
Donny advocated unlimited ac–
cess to the TV. "We kids have
our rights!" he maintained.
Daniella was more realistic.
"If
my mother doesn't control it, 1
would just keep watching and 1'11
get dízzy," she remarked.
In another experiment, seventh
and eighth graders went without
television for a whole month and
then reported on their findings.
"1 had more time to do my
homework neater and better,"
said Darien. " I used to get rotten
grades but now 1 am doing bet-
ter and 1 have better grades."
"As the days went by, it
seemed as though the month got
longer and longer," commented
Tammentba. "Kids just can't stop
watching ít," she stated.
"Sorne days I just roamed
around the house," Sheíla con–
fessed. "1 couldn't find anythíng
to do, yet I had at least a millíon
things to do."
Angela redíscovered an old
fríend-her mother. "The time 1
used to spend watching televisíon
[wbich was all the time] 1 spend
conversíng with my mother ,"
Angela wrote.
Maybe the situation is díffer–
ent in your home. You can easily
7