Arakin 4 kurs new 001 176. indd

Smarter kids through television: 
debunking myths old and new
The digital divide used to separate rich 
…
poor; now it separates 
parents 
…
their children. Whether it’s infants watching the new 24-
hour “Baby’s First TV” channel, or teenagers instant messaging while 
they watch last night’s “Daily Show” 
…
their iPods, television is an 
enormous presence 
…
the lives of kids today. The average American 
child spends three 
…
five hours a day watching it. And they start their 
viewing careers much earlier than ever before: 
…
1961, the average 
child began to watch television 
…
age 3; today it is 9 months.
Yet, for all the television kids are watching, much 
…
what parents 
think they know 
…
television’s impact 
…
their children is wrong. 
…
instance, 
…
the early 1970s, it was common knowledge that television 
was bad 
…
your eyes: My own parents were convinced that my bad 
eyesight was the result 
…
sitting too close 
…
the screen, and they 
therefore made me stay 
…
least 6 feet 
…
it. Today, most people know 
that television viewing does not cause vision problems, but a host 
…
new myths have emerged, still ripe
 …
debunking:

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97
• 
TV makes kids dumb.
Actually, high-quality TV shows such as 
“Sesame Street” and “Blues Clues” improve children’s cognitive abili-
ties. Study after study has shown that children 3
 … 
5 years old who 
watch “Sesame Street” 
…
an hour a day are better able than those who 
don’t to recognize numbers, letters and shapes. When 500 kids who 
had participated in some of those studies were followed
 …
as teenagers, 
those who had watched educational programs as preschoolers had 
higher grades, were reading more books, placed more value on achieve-
ment and were more creative than those who had not watched.
• 
TV makes kids violent.
The real story is more complicated. In 
1994, researchers reviewed hundreds