FAM:Is a monster attacking your child?  by Miriam Hall

*** The following article is reprinted with permission from
Miriam Hall, the author of the article and Children's Ministries
Director, Christian Life and Sunday School Division, at Int'l
Headquarters of the Church of the Nazarene. The article first
appeared on Herald of Holiness magazine, published by Nazarene
Publishing House, Kansas City, Mo. ***

IS A MONSTER ATTACKING YOUR CHILD?

Mr. Hill's shoulders slumped as the last two Middler
boys dashed out the door of the Sunday School classroom and
raced down the hall, yelling and shadow-boxing with one
another. He knew he ought to call them back and make them
walk to church in an orderly fashion; but after a full
hour-which seemed more like 10-of trying to keep his class
productively involved in Bible study, he just didn't have the
energy. A glance at his assistant showed the same feeling of
futility mirrored in his expression. For the hundredth time
that year they asked themselves, "Why are today's children so
difficult to teach?"

The Elmwoods looked with quiet dispair at 11-year-old
Karen's latest report card. Beside the series of Ds and Fs
were comments that read, "Doesn't settle down in class,"
"Seldom completes assignments," and "Seems bored and
disinterested."

Are Mr. Hill and his assistant poor disciplinarians who
shouldn't be teaching children? Are the Elwoods negligent
parents who don't care about their child's education? Not
necessarily. Today public school teachers, school
administrators, child psychologists, pastors, church
children's workers, and parents admit that many children have
an unusually short attention span, a general disinterest in
learning, and little respect for their findings suggest that
there may be a monster attacking our children. It's name?
Television!

Since TV first made its appearance, concerned adults
have questioned its impact on children. Today the increasing
weight of evidence is that television-both in content and as
a medium of expression-is harmful to children. The results
of research suggest at least three major problem areas
related to television viewing.

PROBLEM NUMBER ONE

Children Are Watching

Earlier research about the effects of television on
children tended to focus on the content of the programs the
children were seeing. But more recent studies indicate that
TV viewing in itself is harmful to youngsters. Consider
these facts:

* Excessive TV viewing inhibits eye movement, something that
is necessary for the development of reading skills.

* Extended TV viewing both numbs and fatigues the viewer.

* TV special effects, such as those created by the zoom
lenses, slow motion, instant replay, and other devices,
are used by production experts to hold the viewer's attention
and to get him to respond emotionally. However, these offer
the child a viewing environment that is unnatural when
compared to the real world in which the child lives.

* Many television programs-especially children's programs
feature constant movement. The viewer has no opportunity to
respond mentally to the presentation; he simply records what
he sees without response.

* Although TV is widely touted as educational medium,
research on brainwave activity indicates that the viewer
remains continually in the alpha state-the state associated
with sleep or daydreaming. This means that no mental
activity is talking place except that of recording what is
being seen.

What are the results of these factors upon children?

There are several.

* The child's attention span is shortened. Used to dramatic
effects and fast-paced movement, children find it difficult
to concentrate on material presented in other ways.

* Children who watch TV extensively tend to respond to its
numbing, fatiguing effects by becoming hyperactive when they
are not watching. They are noisier, less attentive, and much
harder to control.

* Accustomed to the unreal world created for them by the use
of special effects, many children find the real world less
interesting and exciting. As a result they prefer to watch
life, rather than participate in life. When they are not
being bombarded with visual stimuli, they quickly become
bored. Unlike children of past generations who often spent
hours in imaginative play, many of today's children don't
know what to do with themselves if they are removed from the
television set.

* Children are less interested in learning, especially
learning through more traditional methods such as reading,
writing, and listening. Just as they "switch off" a program
that does not interest them, so they turn off teachers who
cannot provide learning activities with the exciting
emotional appeal of television.

* Because the mind is not engaged in mental activity during
TV viewing, the child's ability to learn is actually being
inhibited rather than strengthened.

PROBLEM NUMBER TWO

Children Are Watching A Lot

Closely related to the problem of TV viewing itself is
the issue of the number of hours children spend before the
tube. Statistics vary from source to source, but the
consensus seems to suggest the following:

* The average preschooler spends about two-thirds of his
waking hours watching TV. This is at least five hours a day,
sometimes closer to six or seven.

* By the time a child graduates from high school he has
logged in from 15,000-16,000 hours watching television,
compared with 11,000-12,000 hours spent in school.

As mentioned earlier, spending this many hours a day in
passive noninvolvement is bad enough; but even worse is the
tremendous number of worthwhile things that TV viewing
prevents the child from doing. Consider, for example:

* TV viewing inhibits interaction between family members and
friends. In some instances, family members are physically
separated as they watch different programs in different rooms
of the house. (Forty-five percent of the homes in America
have at least two TV sets.) But even when family members are
sitting together, they are separated from one another by
their individual absorption in the program they are watching.
This isolation severely limits conversation, sharing ideas,
working together, and other "togetherness" activities.

* TV viewing replaces a variety of wholesome activities that
stimulate the ability to learn. Among these are physical
activities that strengthen the sensorimotor skills that form
the foundation for learning, and mind- developing activities
such as games, hobbies, and family projects.

* Contrary to what educators first thought, TV viewing
decreases rather that stimulates interest in reading.

Children are not motivated to expend effort to read a book
they can see portrayed in an exciting manner they can see in
an hour and a half television program. But, as was pointed
our previously, the child is not really learning when he
watches TV because his brain remains in the alpha state.

When he reads, the brain must operate to greater extent in
the beta state, where thinking, analyzing, and learning take
place.

These two problems are depressing to contemplate, but
there is an additional problem associated with the monster
TV.

PROBLEM NUMBER THREE

Children Are Watching A Lot Of Bad Things

In a newspaper series on TV, Elayne Roland states,
"Parents would like to think that they're the main 'molders'
of their children's lives. Not so, Studies reveal that
television is the No. 1 influence of children."

If this is true, what is the influence of TV on
children? It takes only a few moments of viewing to discover
that television peddles values that are antithesis of

Christian. Often children are portrayed as cool,
worldly-wise creatures who know more than parents and who
generally have the upper hand. Many so-called family
programs are riddled with sexual innuendos. The heroes on
many programs are rebellious against society and operate
violently and outside the law. Christians, if they are
portrayed at all, are usually depicted as ineffectual,
hypocritical, or downright ridiculous. Add to this the fact
that by the time a child graduates from high school he will
have seen about 350,000 commercials, which repeatedly pound
into his head the idea that to be happy one must subscribe to
a "me-first" way of life and accumulate as many material
possessions as possible.

Again, the results of these factors are dismaying.

* Because they so frequently see adults portrayed as stupid
and immoral (in the broader sense of the term), children have
less an less respect for their parents and teachers.

* children are much more inclined to want to settle
difficulties with violence since they see so much of it on
TV.

* Without even knowing children are absorbing the
materialistic, humanistic world philosophy portrayed on TV.
And in many cases their parents are not even aware of what is
happening.
In the light of these facts, what can be done to
counteract the influence of this ever-present monster? the
answer is not easy, but there are some things concerned
parents and church teachers may do.

* Learn all you can about the influence of television on
children. Watch the articles in the newspaper or magazines.
Check with the public library for books and pamphlets. Write
to the publications, and request printed materials and /or
bibliographies of current writings.

Along with your reading take time to view some children's
programs--particularly the Saturday morning fare. Note the
content of the programs, the noise level, and the types and
quality of advertising. Consider what might be the short-
and long-range effects of this material on children.

Research of this nature will help you better understand the
problems posed by TV influence on you children or those you
teach. If you are a parent and have children in your own
home start taking a close look at what your children watch,
when they watch, and why they watch.

Share your insights and concerns with your pastor,
children's director, and Christian Life chairman. Encourage
them to provide parents and teachers with concrete
information about what TV is doing to children, along with
practical help for combating the problem, Books and articles
about the influence of television usually have many
suggestions for parents. Here are just a few.

* Do not allow children to watch TV unless a parent or
another adult is present.

* Provide books, games, and hobby materials for children to
enjoy in place of watching TV.

* Do things together as a family. Talk with the children;
listen to them; work and play with them.

* Do not allow the child to have a TV in his room.

* Watch TV with your children. As you do, discuss what you
see. Are the characters behaving in a good way? Is the
story realistic? What about the commercials?

* Insist that older children write at least one program
"review" each week. In the review, the child should describe
the program, evaluate it in terms of family values, and give
it an overall rating.

* Go to a TV studio to see how programs are produced.

* Severely limit the viewing hours of children under six.

* When viewing TV, insist that the children sit rather than
lie down. Move around frequently during commercial breaks.

* Censor programs that do not support family values.

Information of this nature can be made available though
classes, a lending library of books or articles, or a parent
newsletter.

* If you are a church teacher, recognize the fact that the
children you teach are different in some respects from the
children you may have taught previously. Remembering this
will keep you from falsely blaming yourself for a lick of
teaching or disciplinary skills. Ask the Holy Spirit to give
you added wisdom and patience for teaching today's
youngsters. While TV does create added problems, the
situation is far from hopeless. Maintaining firm discipline
in you classroom. It may take a while but eventually
children will learn what you will and will not tolerate. Use
active teaching methods that involve the pupil physically and
mentally. Strive to provide children with some out-of-class
activities that take them away from the TV set. Some
possibilities are field trips, sporting activities, hobbies
and crafts, service projects, parties.

* At home or in the classroom, talk with children about how
TV influences their lives. Older children, especially, can
begin to give serious consideration to their viewing habits.
From time to time, ask them to do some research into subjects
like these:

The number of hours per day or week they watch TV.

The names and contents of the programs they watch.

Their reason for watching.

The number of hours they watch alone, and the number they
watch with other family members.

Activities they enjoy other than watching TV.

The kinds of commercials they like.

* Become involved in vocational, state, or local
organization working to provide better TV programming for
children. If concerned parents, pastors, or children's
workers begin to take an active role in providing better
quality television, perhaps someday the "monster" will at
last be tamed.
