TV: Sex, Guns, and Frito-Lays

This is your brain on TV. Upon high-school graduation, the average American student will have spent more hours watching TV than in the classroom. What might this mean? Let’s think about things these kids are not doing while they’re watching TV. They are not studying, moving their bodies, interacting with real live human beings, or getting any sense of what real life will be like when they graduate. So what does happen when you watch TV? Here we need to get into the waves. Brain waves, that is. Remember this from science class? The brain is an electrochemical organ, discharging electrical currents that are measured in waves, such as Beta and Alpha waves.

Beta waves mean the brain is active and engaged. They happen when you’re working and talking. Alpha waves mean you’re chilling out. In the Alpha state you are relaxed, unfocused, and suggestible. Low Alpha waves represent a condition that some describe as “mind fog.” TV has an amazing ability to shift your brain waves from Beta to Alpha; in fact it happens within the first minute of viewing. I imagine this can be good -- I have a friend who says that, after a day of dealing with work, the two kids, the dog, and the husband, she needs a few minutes of TV to unwind or she can’t fall asleep. I get it.

But shouldn’t it come with a warning label? “Surgeon General’s warning: watching television may cause mind fog, difficulty concentrating, an urge to shop, and increased symptoms of ADD and ADHD.” Remember when people believed there were split-second subliminal ads on TV and in movies? Not necessary. Advertisers figured out another benefit of Alpha waves a long time ago: you are a sitting duck for their ads. Your brain on TV is already in a passive, receptive state, ready to absorb suggestions and believe that buying something from Brand X will make you happy. In fact, thanks to the miracles of “product placement,” Brand X is not just for ads anymore. Your favorite soap opera starlet will not only make sure you can see her can of Diet Coke; she might even have an argument with her sister about Coke versus Pepsi.

I’m sure you think you’re smarter than that, and maybe you are, but we’re talking physiology here, not intelligence. And even if you can apply critical thinking to the ads on TV, your kids probably can’t. But wait, there’s more! Don’t forget the Sex, Drugs, and Rock’n’Roll factor. Or more pertinently, Sex, Guns, and Frito-Lays.

Sex

TV sexuality is (usually) pretty casual and free of consequences. Condoms and HPV are not popular topics for the sitcom set. Here’s some headline news for you: “Exposure to TV Sex May Hasten the Initiation of Sexual Activity Among Teens.”

Guns

Kids who see violent acts on the screen are more likely to show aggressive behavior. They also are more afraid that something bad will happen to them. Duh. There are thousands of horrifying stories of children emulating violent behavior, but I can’t help remembering the seven-year old boy from Dallas who, in July of 1999, killed his three-year old brother by imitating a wrestling move called “the clothesline” that he saw in televised professional wrestling.

Frito-Lays

What do potato chips have to do with it? Kids snack while they watch. Childhood obesity is now the number one chronic childhood disease. The percentage of children who are obese (30%) has tripled since 1980. Coincidence? I think not. Here’s my favorite “expert opinion,” from Dr. Irene Berman-Levine:

“My solution is to create TVs that only work if your feet are peddling to create the necessary electricity, and you have to sit on a bike which requires you to hang on for dear life (so you can't use your hands to eat at the same time).”

And more … Let’s not leave out the booze. Just this summer, thanks to researchers in Canada and the Netherlands, we have our first experimental study to determine whether booze on TV makes you drink. Can you guess? "The results were straightforward and substantial: those who watched both the alcoholic film and commercials drank more than those who watched the non-alcoholic film and commercials.”

As far as TV-related problems, body image is a big one … I mean a thin one. Take for example the nation of Fiji. Their islands didn’t have TV until 1995. Imagine that! Before that, Fiji didn’t have a body image problem. Their culture traditionally valued “fuller figures.” By 1998, though, 78% of teen girls surveyed said they were too fat, and anorexia and bulimia had come to town.

Even though there’s no warning label, former Surgeon General Steven K. Galson, M.D., M.P.H. did pitch in to a National Institutes of Health report intended to reduce screen time, saying “Kids are spending more time sitting in front of screens every day than they do anything else except perhaps sleeping.” That same report tells us in no uncertain terms that for every hour of screen-time we see increases in obesity, drug and alcohol abuse, smoking, risky and early sexual activity, lower grades, violence , etc. You get the point. I’m not going to tell you to kill your television. I’m a pacifist. But how about a little habit changing? Just push that little button on your remote that says “off.”

Follow Michelle Howard on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MCNaturally

Comments

[Berettasskeeter]

It's truly amazing, all these armchair psychologists who have no idea what they are talking about. For decades, children have watched television and listened to radio, and yet this so-called epidemic only started since God was mandated out of our government. We saw clips of various wars, movies of all kinds, heard radio shows that inspired our imaginations. Then we attended our weekly, bi-weekly, or daily church services, and put those shows in the perspective of a loving God.
The statistics are skewed, as usual, against guns. But, fortunately, there are plenty of folks willing to call out the folks who twist the truth to their own agenda. Folks like OdinsEye do the research, and continually put these untruthful folks in their place.
Semper fi

[Michelle Howard - Huffpost Blogger]

Research and statistics, as always, are imperfect sciences and can be interpreted to each of our unique perspectives. I'm thankful for the forum, and for the kinds of solutions that arise out of healthy debate.

[OdinsEye]

I try not to intrepret too much. I try to stick to very clear and concise parameters and go to the de facto source of raw data. In this case I went to the CDC and used their research tool. I used the parameters given by you: teenage boys. There is some wiggle room on what years are "teenage". Typically it is given as any year ending in "-teen", or years 13 through 19. Some consider it to begin at age 10. And since ages 18 and 19 are adults, they are somtimes omitted. Therefore, I gave the data for ages 13-19 (teens), ages 13-17 (juvenile teens), and ages 10-17 (double digit juveniles). In each case, the latest available data contradicts your claim (no offense).

I do, however, believe that part of our problem is the constant glorification of violence on the TV, movies, video games, and internet. I disagree with my friend that it is because God has been removed, though that certainly can be a factor. I also disagree that we were exposed to the same level of violence and glorification of violence as kids. I think that kids today are exposed to a 100 times more than we were. Additionally, (and this is where God may factor in) we were taught higher moral and ethical values, we were disciplined by our parents, we had fewer broken families, and our education and work ethics were much better.

[OdinsEye]

Try this social experiment: Find people age 35 or less. Put them in a room together and let them talk. They will immediately begin relating to one another using movie references. One on one, ask them to explain anything (take your pick) to you and they will frequently resort to movie references. Give any one of them a subject to give a speech on in front of the group and again, they will often rely on movie references. In each case they may also use TV and video game references, but movies seem to be the most common.

Socially, younger people today have few core social experiences in common except movies. Movies form a baseline from which they can build, and as such estblishes norms.

[mike102]

"GUNS
Kids who see violent acts on the screen are more likely to show aggressive behavior. They also are more afraid that something bad will happen to them. Duh. There are thousands of horrifying stories of children emulating violent behavior, but I can’t help remembering the seven-year old boy from Dallas who, in July of 1999, killed his three-year old brother by imitating a wrestling move called “the clothesline” that he saw in televised professional wrestling."

And what does this anecdote have to do with guns?

[Michelle Howard - Huffpost Blogger]

The original anecdote is one example of TV violence influencing the behavior of children. For more explicit gun-related examples:

The average American child witnesses 45 acts of violence on TV each day, most involving handguns. Since children often imitate what they see, they are often more aggressive after extensive viewing of TV violence.

Gunshots are now the leading cause of death among teenage boys.

Children do not have to witness gun violence directly to develop symptoms of traumatic stress. After hearing about incidences of gun violence or learning about them on television, children may feel that their safety is threatened. Teens may respond to this threat by adopting what they perceive as "protective behaviors," such as joining a gang or arming themselves with guns or knives. Many youth associate great power with carrying or having access to a gun.

"Conversely, some youth may perceive the media attention to youth gun violence as attractive and commit "copycat" shootings or try to "outdo" publicized school shootings. For example, some of the highly publicized school shooters (including Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the shooters at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado) reported that they planned a "better" school ambush by learning from the "mistakes" of other publicized school shooters."

from a study by Princeton University and the Brookings Institution:

http://futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=42&articleid=166&sectionid=1068

[OdinsEye]

"Gunshots are now the leading cause of death among teenage boys."

Ages 13 to 19? Lemme look that up and verify that.

[OdinsEye]

Yep, just as I thought:

Boys, ages 13-19, causes of death (CDC 2006 data the last year availiable for WISQARS research):

Firearms - 2710

Motor vehicles - 3558

[Grippo Clan]

Thank you, Michelle. You've touched the tip of the iceberg of TV Hazards! For anyone interested in looking further into this topic, I recommend "Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television," by Jerry Mander.