So teachers think TV is bad for children? Computers worry me far more Kids can tune out the television but computers rob their time and hijack their brains There are two different, slightly contradictory stories in the news about kids and television. The first is that having tellies in their bedrooms leaves young children so isolated and socially unskilled that they can barely hold a conversation. The second is that pupils are imitating the rudeness they see on certain shows – Big Brother, EastEnders, Little Britain – leading to disruption in the classroom. Which is it? Either they’re learning how to talk – albeit rudely – from television, or they’re not. Upon closer inspection it turns out that these two stories, far from being contradictory, are in fact the same story, or at least they spring from the Association of Teachers and Lecturers. The same survey suggests that TV is both corrupting and stunting our children – a familiar charge. One teacher even referred to “the glorification of low culture”, a comment that would not have been out of place in a newspaper article from 40 years ago. I do not let my children have TVs in their rooms, because TVs are expensive and I can’t see how the outlay would benefit me. And I know only too well that kids imitate what they see on television. One of my children is basically a recording device: if you give him an age-inappropriate catchphrase he’ll do the whole sketch for you, and the sketch that follows. If you don’t figure out a way to stop him he’ll give you the whole box set. But I don’t really believe children emulate what they see. They don’t want to be the people in EastEnders. No one does. Some newspaper articles went so far as to list the crimes attributable to specific programmes: The Catherine Tate Show emboldens children to answer teachers with “Am I bovvered?”; Waterloo Road encourages them to wear their uniforms improperly; The Jeremy Kyle Show teaches pupils the importance of screaming at each other and storming out of class. With the first two examples there is a question of whether life is imitating art or vice versa, but if there is a problem with young people watching Jeremy Kyle, it’s one of truancy. He’s on at 9.25am on weekdays. I am much more nervous about computers, particularly the way they engage children’s concentration. I grew up doing my homework in front of the television, and I know it’s perfectly possible to tune it out. Computers, on the other hand, seem to enslave children, robbing their time and hijacking their brains. It’s a question of what you’re used to. I’m constantly telling my kids to get off the computer and come and watch television. And because it’s important they develop their conversational skills, I let them talk all the way through Ice Road Truckers. Posted by Tim Dowling Tuesday 31 March 2009 16.41 BST guardian.co.uk
