T.V. Watching May Result in Lower Academic Achievement

Several recently published scientific studies point to a negative relationship between the amount of time spent by children and adolescents watching T.V. and their academic achievement by adulthood.

One study, conducted in New Zealand, followed one thousand people over several years and found lower academic achievement among those adults who watched a lot of television as children.

A second study, conducted in California, found that children with T.V.’s in their bedrooms scored eight points lower on academic tests than children who did not have T.V.s in their bedrooms. Dr. Borzekowski of Johns Hopkins says “While this study does not prove that bedroom T.V. sets caused lower scores, it adds to accumulating data that kids should not have T.V.’s in their bedrooms.

A third study, conducted by Frederick Zimmerman of University of Washington, found that those children who watched more than three hours of T.V. daily before age three scored worse on academic tests than those children who watched less T.V.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under two years of age not watch T.V. and that children over two years of age watch no more than two hours of T.V. per day. They also recommend that there be no T.V.’s in children’s bedrooms.

John Wilson, vice president of Public Broadcasting Service, says that other studies have shown that PBS’s children’s programs can benefit child development.

There is agreement among scientists that further research is needed. One criticism is that there was no distinction allowed for the type of content in the T.V. shows that children watched.