Join the conversation

I dug through all your links! Great post!

I think we might be putting the egg before the chicken on the health effects of TV viewing. I know that people who are unhealthy to start off with are the ones watching huge amounts of tv (people in nursing homes and hospitals, etc.) Same thing with kids who are failing school - reading is difficult and is not seen as a leisure activity, unlike the computer and such. The argument (not mentioned here, but elsewhere) that TV causes ADHD is also IMO pretty faulty.

But in reference to your first pdf link, there only seems to be a 15% difference between light and heavy media users in "good grades." Good, I suppose, is in the eye of the beholder. I have one kid in ps that makes me happy when he gets a C and another that, even though he is in "advanced" classes, would make me blow a gasket if I saw such a letter on his card. But did you also notice that 10% of light media users are reporting that their school DOESN'T USE GRADES at all?

Are they unschoolers? Homeschoolers? Private school children whose parents keep in touch through social networks? Kids in very strange public school districts?

And relating to "contentedness," heavy users are less likely to report being content and having many friends. Um, in my own personal networking, autistic folks tend to use email and such to communicate and don't use the telephone and/or speak in person as often. And they tend to be the ones with the social "problems." I LOVE my Elf, but he has not had a friend to play with in the last a year and a half. He's an *excellent* pen-pal, though. :)

Ok, here's my question: why does it matter, though? Maybe I am an incredibly lax parent, but if your work is done, "free time" is just that. Here I thought you were going to go into the "digital divide" thing, and you didn't. I have some older kids who would like a cell phone and all those other things, but we're too "poor" to afford them. They do eat three meals a day, though. Amazing what we think we need sometimes, isn't it? I know it's a long reply, but you had lots of links to check out and think about. God bless ya and see you later. :)

Wow, I could go on and on about how much just the first paragraph rings a bell with me. I'd love to see kids disconnect from all of that stuff and reconnect with the real world around them a little bit more!

Hi, Mrs. C--I take your point. Kids who are disaffected, not doing much school work, tuned out, are probably more likely to get stuck in a technological cesspool. So maybe the technology isn't the problem; it's could be a symptom of their problem. It's also true that children should have some freedom in how they use their free time. But wouldn't it be nice if children spent more of that time outside? And I guess my bigger point is that technology, can, like everything else, do good or evil. Given that so many students--and this seems to bridge the digital divide--are using it for so many hours out of the day, schools can help them learn how to use it for good. Education technology can be so powerful, in large part because it can help students use it better outside of school.

Adrian--The KFF study also found that parents who specifically limited their children's technology use actually had an impact. Those children reported using technology much less frequently. So parents have power.

Oh, I agree with your point! I was just quibbling with the research in the link to support it and chatting with you. :)

thank you for the sharing. i love your posting in facebook or reading this blog, a lot of great information i can apply. thank you very much.