ARE ELECTRONIC TOYS TO BLAME FOR POOR GRADES AND OBESITY

I often don’t pay that much attention to the news until something catches my ear, then I usually only get half the story. So much of the news is not worth watching or listening to anyway, since there isn’t a TV network out there that doesn’t twist, bend or slant the news to fit its editorial bias.
Oh well. That’s not going to change and that’s not what caught my ear the other morning. The gist of the news story, later reported in the print news is summarized by this quote from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

If you think only tweens and teens spend too much time indoors in front of TVs and computers, think again. Children ages six months to six years old are spending as much time with TV, computers and videogames as they do playing outside or reading, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Kids six and under spend an average of two hours a day using screen media, equivalent to the amount of time they spend playing outside. Yet, those two hours are a lot more than they spend reading or being read to (39 minutes).
The TV reporter indicated that all this time inside sitting in front of a TV, computer or text messaging on a cell phone explained students’ poor grades and obesity. I’m simplifying the report somewhat, but, as I said, that was the gist of the report. And it was that latter insinuation that caught my ear.

I don’t doubt for one minute that some children are spending too much time on their computer, or watching television, or twittering on their cell phone. I also do not doubt that for some of these kids that time could be better spent studying.

It is just too simplistic, though, to blame children’s poor grades on the electronic toys around the house. Some parents of today’s young people may remember that when they themselves were school-aged, the media, ministers and others looking for someone or something to blame poor grades on pointed their accusing fingers at rock and roll music.

Kids who want to fail or don’t care if they do well in school, will find some way to waste their time and avoid studying. Parents who cannot or will not monitor their kids’ school work will find something they can blame for their children’s poor school performance.

I don’t know if kids spend more time indoors than their parents or grandparents did, nor do I know that even if they do the blame can be laid on the electronics around their house.

Consider the number of hours, yes, hours, kids of previous generations spent on such indoor activities as model plane or model car building, coloring in a coloring book or playing with paper dolls. And let’s not forget the board games: Parcheesi, Monopoly, Chinese checkers, and the card games: Canasta, Hearts, Uno, Go Fish, and others. We spent countless hours putting together jig saw puzzles and spent countless more hours at the Saturday afternoon double-feature movie with cartoons and serial Buck Rogers or Superman thriller. All indoors and all while sitting.

The obesity problem? Well, I’ll have to admit that we did get around more by either walking or biking. No cars, not even for most teenagers. (Some kids had cars or access to one, but most of us got from place to place with Shank’s Mare, that is, walking.) So we probably got more exercise than some of today’s youngsters.

But I see kids walking today. I see kids biking, where it’s safe to do so. And there are a hell of a lot more sports in school for both boys and girls -- and I see a lot of non-obese kids taking part in these sports. Exercise is where you find it.

The obesity problem among our young people is more a parent problem than anything else. While I will admit that there are loads of special circumstances, I am compelled to say that there are loads of excuses for the fact that too many kids are fed too many prepared, processed, high-calorie meals that are going to make them fat! Stop eating out and start eating in. Stop giving them prepared foods and start preparing balanced meals.

I am afraid, however, that if you are among those parents who swapped preparing home-cooked meals for prepared foods, you will gladly swap good sense (and responsibility) about your children’s grades or weight for some prepared excuse such as their spending too much time in the house with their electronics.

Kids have always found a way to fritter away their time. Why start now to blame it on electronics.