Too much television can make children 'mentally ill'

Too much television can make children 'mentally ill'

www.telegraph.co.uk

That study found: "Other things being equal, the more a child is exposed to the media (television and Internet), the more materialistic she becomes, the worse she relates to her parents and the worse her mental health."

The Good Childhood inquiry, compiled by more than 35,000 contributors is independent of the Church of England affiliated society but has been endorsed by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Mmm-hmm...

Notice how they intertwined the net in with this as well.

Didn't we just have some study not long ago that was blaming the GAMING systems on psychopathic and violent behavior as well?

While I don't doubt the dumbing down of the populace via the boob tube and the corporate puppet masters that deliberately force feed consumerism, propaganda and endless, mindless "reality" programs all over the place, I'm not sure that it is going to turn everyone insane.

Interesting subject either way, and I'm wondering what others think---Agree? Disagree?

www.telegraph.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 2-2-2009 by DimensionalDetective]

Originally posted by DimensionalDetective
The Good Childhood inquiry, compiled by more than 35,000 contributors is independent of the Church of England affiliated society but has been endorsed by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams.

I think this says it all. If the Church is worried about children's mental state, then perhaps they should stop allowing their priests and bishops of sexually abusing them.

Now, I don't doubt that TV or videogames have (negative) influence in some people, but there have always been easily influenced people and there will always be regardless of television, music or videogames.



[edit on 2-2-2009 by converge]

Originally posted by DimensionalDetective
Too much television can make children 'mentally ill'

I'm thinking too much MSNBC could do it. Take a look at who has airtime ... Chris tingle up my leg' Matthews ... Mika ... etc

YIKES!

I think not watching enough TV and growing up in a house filled with overly religious goofballs is probably worse for a kid mentally than too much TV. But that's just my opinion.

Originally posted by FlyersFan

Originally posted by DimensionalDetective
Too much television can make children 'mentally ill'

I'm thinking too much MSNBC could do it. Take a look at who has airtime ... Chris tingle up my leg' Matthews ... Mika ... etc

And I think people who watch FOX News get delusional. I heard some of their viewers actually believe that George Bush was a good President, can you believe that?!

Well, I'd have to say that teaching self-loathing to children has more of an impact.

.

Good parenting and nutritious food is more important to your kids mental state. But hey, loads of em just tank them full with fast food, soda's and barely communicate on an emotional level.

Interesting; rather than review what it is about television (I refuse to accept the Internet as a similar case) that MAKES people (children ARE people) materialistic and 'detached' from the family group; they simply ignore it - as if TV were sacrosanct, and 'programming' by the corporate media isn't the issue.

Almost every show now is nothing more than a commercial, couched in a reusable plot.

The deepest offender are the 'produced' reality TV shows which are so disingenuously scripted as to be shameful. It's like they decided pro-wrestling drama was the paradigm to use for everything.

t.v. is terrible for children, for the first few years it can help to educate them when the parent is busy, but after 5 years old it is zombie time, it needs to be heavily moderated. i grew up without a t.v. and without a telephone, we read books, wrote stories, talked about stuff alot, we had a good childhood, we played games and did not sit about on our butts watching the box like all the sheeple around us

What is regular behavior anyway? It wasn't until the invention of mass communication, through the Internet, television, radio and other technological means that we have actually gained the ability to fully explore the total range of human social behavior. What the Church and all these long established social institutions are guilty of is a strongly biased inclination toward behavioral relativism. They mistake a large proportion of their diagnoses of the qualities of behavioral outliers because they are incapable of appreciating the world through these new modes of communication and social exploration.

These illnesses are merely the manifestation of a struggle between modernity and ancient customs. The reason they are perceived as mental illnesses is because we have yet to realize that in this present society there are few social institutions or networks, which provide functional employment for the newly acquired characteristics of people whose qualities appear to sustain mental illness...

There is currently no structural foundation for these new behavioral types. The problem is that we lack the social infrastructure to provide a meaningful avenue for the talents of these people in life.

[edit on 2-2-2009 by cognoscente]

reply to post by converge


(side note: church of england is not affiliated with the papacy or the catholic church. at least not officially. it was founded by king henry the 8th when he wanted to divorce one of his wives and the pope wouldn't agree to it. so henry made his own church and got his own ministers and had them officialize the divorce)

Originally posted by THELONIO
t.v. is terrible for children,

Really? Why do you feel this way?

for the first few years it can help to educate them when the parent is busy, but after 5 years old it is zombie time, it needs to be heavily moderated.

Zombie time?

i grew up without a t.v. and without a telephone,

Oh ok... I get it now. So because you didn't grow up with it, it's evil?

we read books, wrote stories, talked about stuff alot, we had a good childhood, we played games and did not sit about on our butts watching the box like all the sheeple around us

Well I did all those things AND watched TV, and played on my computer, etc.

I had a great time too. So I don't understand the issue.

The amount of television watched is just a symptom. What needs to be addressed is why the general culture has (d)evolved to the extent that watching TV or playing escapist video games is the focus of so many lives.

For people to be spending so much time just watching television indicates to me that they are already mentally ill. The TV may change or enhance the behaviors associated with the mental illness, but does not cause it.

reply to post by Open_Minded Skeptic


Well put. Star for that.

Like I said one problem is that we lack the social infrastructure to provide a meaningful avenue for the talents of people who have developed personal characteristics, which might be perceived as mental illness, social apathy, or general disconnectedness. But even this is just a patchwork attempt at solving a much greater problem.

I think you've hit it the target right on. The reason for this shift in behavior should be identified before we start ripping the plug out of the wall and screaming at our children. I can only imagine what those kids will get themselves into if they have no outlet for their extreme tendency to engage in monotonous activities such as TV and video games all day long.

[edit on 2-2-2009 by cognoscente]

Originally posted by cognoscente
I can only imagine what those kids will get themselves into if they have no outlet for their extreme tendency to engage in monotonous activities such as TV and video games all day long.

Please list alternatives to television and video games.

Originally posted by Open_Minded Skeptic
The amount of television watched is just a symptom. What needs to be addressed is why the general culture has (d)evolved to the extent that watching TV or playing escapist video games is the focus of so many lives.

For people to be spending so much time just watching television indicates to me that they are already mentally ill. The TV may change or enhance the behaviors associated with the mental illness, but does not cause it.

See this is the real issue.

So my story is this... I own my own business (14 employees) AND I have been employed by corporate America for the last 5 of those. Hey... it pays well.

Anyway, I just recently got laid off from the Corporate America Job, and I'm ecstatic. Finally I can focus on just one business.

But I've noticed something else as well.

1. I don't watch as much TV now. I do lot's of other things.

2. I go to bed early now. I'm not compelled to squeeze out the last few minutes of escapism before I do something I detest the next day. So now, I'm relaxed... I just go to bed.

3. Heh... I don't ATS as much either anymore, unless I'm waiting on an email or a call during the day and I'm just bored.

Anyway...

As you said, watching excessive amounts of tv is a symptom, at least in adults. It wasn't the watching TV that was problematic for me... it was the compulsion to do so to escape that which I dreaded.

If anything, it should have been an indicator... and it was. If I hadn't been so productive over the last 5 years, then I would have been concerned. But as it is, now I'm self sufficient, and so much more mentally happy.

unfortunately, it's not just the kids who are becoming retarded...

too many adults I know watch stuff like American idol or some other crap..

that has to be the first sign of brain damage.


But us here on ATS know that it's done purposefully..
there are wars to fight and it's hard to do that with non-retarded people.

Originally posted by flyindevil

Originally posted by cognoscente
I can only imagine what those kids will get themselves into if they have no outlet for their extreme tendency to engage in monotonous activities such as TV and video games all day long.

Please list alternatives to television and video games.

Sports: Too many to list
Actual hands on toys.
Bicycles.
ATVs.
Trampolines.
Swimming Pools.
Fishing.
Paintball.
Marksmanship.
Animals, Horses, Dogs, Cats, Fish, etc.
Arts.
Music, Instruments.
Dancing.
Reading, even Comic Books.
Games like Chess, Pool, even Card games.
Crafts.
Models.
Martial Arts.
There are tons of variants of the above.

Originally posted by MikeboydUS
Sports: Too many to list
...
There are tons of variants of the above.

Sex...

Sorry, couldn't help it. It was probably the evil influences of videogames and TV talking