Undermining
our children's academic success
TV, video games are terrible substitutes for parenting
by Rodolpho Carrasco
Thursday, February 14, 2002
in Pasadena
Star News
Rodolpho Carrasco is associate director of Harambee Christian Family Center in Pasadena, Calif.
The February issue of Scientific American contains an article reviewing the latest findings on television addiction. For the most part, researchers Robert Kubey and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi tell us things we already know, or can easily figure out.
TV is addictive - parents have been telling children this for years. The box will turn your brain to mush - that's a favorite of teachers. A body at rest tends to stay at rest - everyone trying to lose weight nods sheepishly.
However, one truism from the article is not so obvious and merits attention. Watching television gives viewers a sense of relaxation, passivity and lowered alertness, what we call "vegging out." But turn the TV off and we do not snap back. The feeling of relaxation ends, the authors write, but not the passivity and lowered alertness.
In
other words, television weakens the body and the mind. Unless you are
about to go to bed, this is not good.
The researchers end the article with anecdotes comparing Internet and video game usage to their television findings. One concluding anecdote caught my attention: In 1997 700 Japanese children were rushed to the hospital suffering from optically stimulated epileptic brain seizures caused by viewing bright flashing lights in a Pokemon video game that was broadcast on Japanese TV. "Seizures and other untoward effects of video games are significant enough that software companies and platform manufacturers now routinely include warnings in their instruction booklets," the authors write.
Here's the thing: If a single television program could send 700 children to the hospital, what is the effect of sustained video game usage on the minds of our children? If Scientific American can prove that television is more damaging to mere mortals than we ever imagined, shouldn't we be concerned about children's video games that are arguably more damaging to body and mind than television programming?
This anecdote piqued my attention because of a nagging situation I've been dealing with. For months I've sought to understand a child in the Afterschool program I co-direct. The public school he attends labeled him a behavior problem, something about Attention Deficit Disorder. He can't sit still, complete homework or keep from interrupting other kids.
Recently his mother called saying the school wanted her son on Ritalin. I don't like Ritalin. Nearly every kid I know who was prescribed this calm-inducing drug had a root problem that was not related to body chemistry. Something in their environment was disruptive, or they were making personally destructive choices.
Ritalin is at best a band-aid covering a deeper issue. I mentioned this kid and the school's Ritalin solution to a colleague, who casually said, "He plays video games all day and night. Why would you think he can pay attention to anything that doesn't flash and make noise?"
Later I visited the boy's home. Sure enough, there it sat, like the family altar - a video game console. This boy and his siblings sat in front of a television that was not tuned in to any channel, but instead devoted to Nintendo. They didn't look up when I came through the door.
Is it far-fetched to think that this kid watching and playing fast-action video games, day in and day out, year after year, would form a habit where he can't pay attention long enough to read a book, can't keep to himself or do anything a traditional learning environment demands?
This kid doesn't need Ritalin. His parents need to throw away the Nintendo, turn the TV off, and create a home environment where this boy has a chance to develop academically.
The boy is not unsalvageable, but the parents have the first responsibility to give their child a chance to succeed.
What are the chances that parents will make the changes? These days parents, especially low-income and single parents, are under a lot of pressure. When you've had a long and hard day, plopping the children in front of the TV or video game is a sure way to keep them occupied and give ourselves a few minutes rest.
But parents must recognize that the moment you do that, the moment you give in, the problem is no longer radical multiculturalists, racism, bad teachers, lethargic school districts, tax-and-spend Democrats, or tax-cutting Republicans (or whatever you believe) - it's you. "They" are not weakening your child's mind - you are.
My 20-month old son Samuel is a door closer. If a door is open, he will close it, no work order required. I couldn't figure out where he picked up this trait. One day I was home alone watching him. To make my task easier, I got up from the living room sofa and walked around the house, shutting every door except the door to his room. I returned to the living room and saw my son standing there, sucking his thumb, his two brown eyes watching me.
And I wonder why he closes doors?
We let television and video games occupy our own and our children's discretionary time, then we wonder why they can't study, sit still, or keep their hands to themselves at school.
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