Kia_Ch7_Fox

I read Chapter 7: Flashing Screens or Turning Pages? Winning the War between Books and Television. This chapter grabbed my attention, because of a book I read years ago. I found a book called Six Points to a Happy Healthy Family. It was written by a doctor, and to tell you the truth, I can’t remember where I got the book. I read it, and in one of the chapters they started concentrating on children with ADD. The doctor had a theory that ADD was linked to children having too much T.V. access. He went on to support his theory by saying that the constant flicker of the T.V. was teaching children that there was no need to concentrate. He said that the longest period of time that a T.V. would stay steady was seven, yes, seven seconds. This in turn kept the child’s interest, and because of the constant changes, children who have watched too much T.V. have not developed any level of concentration to use for a substantial period of time. This meant the child would have trouble in school, at home, or any other place that required attention.
I agree with Mem Fox. Reading has got to be interesting. Books have to be available. The T.V. has to be off to allow time to develop an interest. I have found this true with my own kids. They do not get much T.V. time, so when they do, they are glued. I find that this is okay, because they have in turn developed a love for reading. My kids read all the time. A lot of the time, they prefer to read on the go, whether in the car or walking through a store. It gives me piece of mind, because it is much better than listening to them ask for everything they see.