Fri Mar 14, 2008 11:40PM EDT
See Comments (115)
Raise your hand if you have a television in the bedroom? How about the kids'
bedroom? It's not hard to put a television in every room, especially if you
keep upgrading to sleeker, flatter, sharper television sets. I don't have kids,
yet I have three televisions in the house, and yes, I have the obligatory flat-panel
display in the bedroom because I'm a news junkie who likes to watch CNN in the
morning.
It seems to me that lately, researchers are focusing on the effects of having a television set in the bedroom. In a nutshell, having a TV in your sleep sanctuary is bad, very bad, but we already knew that. I guess what we may not have known is how bad it really is, especially when it's in the kid's room. So to bring you up to speed, I've gathered the latest findings hoping to shed some light on this bad habit.
New York Times and IO9 have good articles on the subject so I'll start there. Here's what they say in a nutshell:
TV makes you dumb: In a 2005 study of six Northern California schools, 70 percent of students who had their own TV scored "significantly and consistently" lower on math, reading, and language-arts tests. Those who had computers scored higher. It's believed the TV is a distraction during homework and may interfere with sleep. Seventh graders in Montreal also had the same problem. Those who spent more time in front of the TV, had lower grades. No surprise there.
TV makes you overweight: Several studies have suggested that kids with TVs in their bedroom are likely to be overweight. In a two-year study by the The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, researchers found that kids snacked less when a device (I'm assuming BOB) was programmed to cut into the child's TV viewing time. Kids weren't inspired to exercise more, they just ate less calories a day. A French study found that boys with TVs in their bedroom were more likely to gain weight.
TV makes you a smoker: Yet, another study of 700 middle-school students between 12 and 14 years old, found that kids with TVs were twice as likely to start smoking. Of those surveyed, 42 percent who smoked had a TV in their bedroom.
TV messes up your sleeping patterns: Ok, so all the above figures have been for kids, but adults are also affected by bedroom TVs. Blog IO9, found a survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey (ATUS) shows that late night TV watching can control a person's sleeping patterns. Once upon a time, the day and night cycle determined our sleeping patterns, but with modern technology, mainly that television in the room, people's sleeping patterns are getting worse. Those most vulnerable to TV-timed sleep changes are people who work in services sectors like education, health, leisure, and hospitality, and people who live in the Eastern time zone.
There you have it. A few more reasons to kick that bedroom TV out.
Related:
Sleeping
Alone? Your Gadgets May Be at Fault
Is Your Geeky Lifestyle
Affecting Your Health?
Are Your Teens Getting
Junk Sleep?
Teens spending 30, 40, even
50 each week in front of screens
Join in the discussion. Here you'll see the comments in the order they were posted.
Don't plain the messenger for its content,there is the knowledge network and other avocational channels with interesting and teaching programs.High school could be tog ht true a TV , computer and telephone interaction (would save a lot of money in travel expenses) 50 year's ergo I assumed this would happen t-oviusley today we are just as stupid as the privies generations.It depends on government actions,on how the mediator is being used! With mentally ill people,crack heads and other a digs on the loons school is not a save place anymore!
This argument is specious. It consists of numerous instances of correlation presented as causality. Yes, children who have TVs in their rooms do tend to be overweight and/or smokers, but is it BECAUSE they have TVs in their rooms? Or is it because children who have TVs in their rooms are more likely to come from lower-income families where good health habits are less paramount?
I pay for my TV and Cable by doing paid surveys. If you are interested you can go here. http://youcangetpaidforsurveys.blogspot.com
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The Magellan Explorist 210 GPS device is meant for folks who will use it hunting, hiking or geocachi ...
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1 Posted by coolkyle4@snet.net on Sat Mar 15, 2008 9:22AM EDT Report Abuse
its rly annoying but i have a tv in my room but it doesnt have cable or anything, jus for my video games. yet, i have both a computer and a tv in my room and i dont seem my sleeping to be affected, and i watch tv around 11-11:15.