For teens, too much TV can impair learning later, study says

Those who watched at least three hours a day reported poor performance in school.

By Daniel B. Wood | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the May 10, 2007 edition

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Los Angeles - If your 14-year-old is sitting in front of the TV for hours a day, your concerns about your teenager's education may be borne out.

That's because watching three or more hours of television a day leads to poor homework completion, negative attitudes toward school, bad grades, and poor performance in college, according to a study published this week.

"We found a very clear correlation between higher levels of TV watching by 14-year-olds and subsequent attention and learning problems developed during the remainder of their years," says Jeffrey Johnson, lead author of the study in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Psychiatry.

"This is very persuasive evidence that confirms other large studies concluding that parents worried about their kids going to college and being successful beyond should make sure their teenagers are not watching too much TV," he adds.

Whether watching a lot of TV sharpens people's mental skills or shortens their attention spans, zaps energy, and fosters violent behavior has been the source of much debate over the years. Hundreds of studies have come down on both sides of the argument.

This one is considered valuable by many experts because it has followed 700 families for 19 years. The same people were interviewed at the ages of 14, 16, 22, and 33 in upstate New York.

"This is a well-executed study and is important because it looks at the possible effects of TV watching over such an extended period," says Thomas Crook, author of the book "The Memory Advantage: Improve Your Memory, Mood and Confidence Throughout Life" and chief executive officer of the Cognitive Research Corporation.

"The data goes back a very long way, [unlike] most of what comes out about TV and its purported effects. Other analyses are based on a kind of one-shot deal, whereas this assesses subjects again and again over many years," he adds.

Many see it as a wake-up call, including groups who are disinclined to agree with basic conclusions that TV is inherently a negative influence.

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