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.

from the May 10, 2007 edition

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"This is a red flag that underscores that there is no doubt children have unbelievable access to and knowledge of media and that we need to make sure they are literate about its influences," says Robin Bronk, executive director of The Creative Coalition, a nonprofit public policy arm of the arts and entertainment industry. "I realize that as a parent I can't just leave my child in a candy store without supervision; they need to know how to digest the material they are exposed to."

Other experts are taking the findings to task for not considering other reasons why adolescents who watch large amounts TV have less academic success as they mature."I agree with the fundamental conclusion that it's not a good thing for kids to sit around and watch too much TV," says Daniel Howard, chair of the marketing department at Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

"But I would suggest that people not get too comfortable with the particular conclusion that TV is the monster. The root cause of a lot of these later developmental problems by TV watchers could be some other problem. The whole implication that if you stop TV viewing, that all of these other problems might go away is wrong," he adds.

Teenagers may also watch a lot of TV for other reasons. It can be a less expensive substitute for other entertainment, a particular issue for low-income families, says Karen Sternheimer, author of the book "It's Not the Media: The Truth about Pop Culture's Influence on Children." "Parents who are absent or not involved with their kids' education is also one of the great predictors of school failure," she says.

Others voice concern that the study may be a bit dated since it began before the proliferation of some modern media, include cable and satellite TV with some 700 channels.

"The world has changed a lot since they began asking questions at the beginning of this study," says Frank Farley, former president of the American Psychological Association. "The kind of media world that concerns parents today – the Internet explosion and iPods and all that – is not involved with this study. It has a kind of musty quality."

Although the study may not show a precise causal relationship between TV and later educational problems, it should sound the alarm for parents, says Thomas Demaria, vice president of behavioral mental health and substance abuse centers at the South Nassau Communities Hospital.

"TV itself may not lead directly to all the problems this study seems to claim, but allowing kids to watch it may take them away from other activities – such as reading or interacting with others or playing sports," says Dr. Demaria.

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