TV Students

I found this article and started wondering...

http://www.sttammany.com/news-detail/article/532/is-tv-taking.html

I have 5 children that I am raising with my husband. We greatly limit the amount of TV the children watch and send them outside to play daily. We play board games, card games, sing songs together, and have a relatively traditional itinerary of activities that do not include TV.

My students quickly realize early in the year that I won't be turning on the TV if there is "extra time" in class. During the spring semester, I typically have to administer state exams to students that I don't or haven't taught before. I found last year that they whined because I wouldn't turn on the TV when everyone was finished. I advised them to bring a book or magazine for the remainder of the testing days.

I do believe that television has caused numerous problems with children/students. They are not expending the energy that children inherently possess, and as a result are fidgety, have trouble concentrating, and do not place very high value on true learning. Parent's response? Medication...

I often wonder if TV networks are in cahoots with pharmaceutical companies. At the very least, they scratch each other's backs to the detriment of our nation's future.