File this one in the "no shit" folder.
Chicago- Too much TV- watching can harm children's ability to learn and even reduce their chances of getting a college degree, three new studies suggest in the latest effort to examine the effects of television on the young.Critics faulted the research for not adequately considering the content of the TV watched, but experts said it bolsters advice that children shouldn't have TVs in their rooms.
The study also suggested that children with no home computer but TVs in their bedrooms scored lower than children with no TVs in their rooms but do have a home computer. I'd also say that the home computer should probably be in a main living area, not in the kid's room.
Sadly, I believe this to be directly related to the amount of time modern parents have to work in a given week. Often, the television is a replacement for parental involvement. This is just the way it goes. As wages do not rise according to inflation, parents have to work more just to keep a decent standard of living. I'm all about the idea of a stay-at-home parent, but not the Republican ideal stay-at-home parent (i.e. the woman). (By the way, Capitol Buzz is a great blog that has popped on my radar recently)
Bottom line? As wages do not rise (meaning the minimum wage, so this is directed at lower middle class or below), parents will either make less for the same amount of work or have to work twice as much, which keeps them out of the house more. This probably doesn't effect kids from middle class families and up because they tend to have more money for after school activities or babysitters. So if we really care about the kids, let's focus on the root causes of problems studies like this point out.
Eh?