Is watching tv and websurfing a danger to our kids? A new study suggests so.
Submitted by Dr. Gwenn Is In
It’s hard sometimes to know what to believe when studies suggest that media staples in our life, such as watching TV or surfing the net, are harming our kids. But, the truth is these venues do have significant down sides. In particular, they can suck away a lot of time that could be spent playing more actively and exercising. And, they expose kids to ideas and images they are not developmentally ready for even as teenagers.
Reuters reported today that a new study out by the US National Institutes of Health, Yale and California Pacific Medical Center shows a compelling link between over use and over exposure of media use in kids lives and negative health issues such as obesity, smoking and teen pregnancy. The study was a review of 173 media studies since 1980. It concentrated mostly on TV watching but also touched on web surfing, video games, music, general computer use, and movie watching.
According to Reuters,
“The studies offered strong evidence that children who get more media exposure are more likely to become obese, start smoking and begin earlier sexual activity than those who spend less time in front of a screen….Studies also indicated more media exposure also was linked to drug and alcohol use and poorer school performance….”
What these studies confirm is the time has come to have them explore the real world more and the cyber-world less, like we used to do. Technology should be an adjunct to the real world, not replace it. If we don’t watch out, the adults from Wall-E could be our future adults:
