We know watching too much TV is bad for adults. But what about kids? In a randomized controlled study published online yesterday in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the authors concluded that watching just 9 minutes of a fast-paced animated cartoon (SpongeBob SquarePants) negatively impacts a 4 year old's executive function vs watching an educational Public Broadcasting Service cartoon about a pre-school aged boy (Caillou) or drawing for 9 minutes.
The editorialist argued that watching 9 minutes isn't the same as watching the whole show. Perhaps watching more wouldn't be any worse (you know, some sort of ceiling effect). Perhaps this is negative impact is transient, rather than permanent. So we know the effect on 4 year olds but what about 3 year olds or 5 year olds? Does age matter? And while the quantity of television watching might be of greater importance for adults, perhaps we should also consider the quality of the television shows that our children are watching? Of course, that assumes that distractability, shorter attention spans, and multi-tasking aren't ideal. Attention deficit, anyone?
So while this study attracted a lot of media attention (ABC, CBS, MSBNC, etc), it really raises more questions than it answers (for instance, it only included 60 middle- to upper-middle class Caucasian 4 year olds). I grew up watching Bugs Bunny and a bunch of other TV shows. I don't think I turned out half bad. But then again, just think how much better I'd be now, how much more I could have accomplished if I hadn't spent all those hours, every Saturday morning, glued to the front of the tube. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.
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