This week I’ve gathered more stats on television influences on children, and its possible impact on their education.

A study of 1,792 adolescents ages 12-17 showed that watching sex on TV influences teens to have sex. Youths who watched more sexual content were more likely to initiate intercourse and progress to more advanced non-coital sexual activities in the year following the beginning of the study…Basically, kids with higher exposure to sex on TV were almost twice as likely as kids with lower exposure to initiate sexual intercourse. -

Study Conducted by RAND and published in the September 2004 issue of Pediatrics.
Factors positively associated with initiation of intercourse among virgins are watching sex on TV, having older friends, getting low grades, engaging in deviant behavior.

Positive factors for virgins to abstain are parental monitoring, parent education, living with both parents, having parents who would disprove of adolescent sex, being religious, and having good mental health.

Children often behave differently after watching violent programs on television. Children who watched violent shows were more likely to strike out at playmates, argue, disobey authority and were less willing to wait for things than children who watched nonviolent programs. - American Psychological Association, Family and Relationships -Get the Facts: Children and Television Violence
Reducing the amount of time grade-school children spend on television games and watching television can make them less aggressive toward their peers. - Stanford

Report, January 14, 2001 -Limiting TV viewing reduces aggression in children, study says by Krista Conger

In considering decisions about contraceptives, STDs and sexual health choices, teens are almost as likely to get their information from TV (60%) as from a health care provider (62%). - Kaiser Family Foundation, 5/23/01

Research has shown that "mindless" television or video games may idle and impoverish the development of the pre-frontal cortex, or that portion of the brain that is responsible for planning, organizing and sequencing behavior for self-control, moral judgment and attention. - American Academy of Pediatrics - Understanding TV's effects on the developing brain, Jane M. Healy, Ph.D.  (From May 1998 AAP News)
ABC's Desperate Housewives is the most popular broadcast-network television show with kids aged 9-12 according to Nielsen stats. It airs at 10/9. (Jan. 05)

By age 18, a U.S. youth will have seen [via media] 16,000 simulated murders and 200,000 acts of violence. - American Psychiatric Association
Various conclusions can be drawn from this data, and parents should take the initiative to follow up with additional research to verify or clarify claims like those above. Setting aside the impact to children’s character development and values, extensive television viewing may contribute to aggression, promiscuity, and disrespect for authority. These outcomes can interfere with classroom performance due to decreased respect for teachers, lack of cooperation and collaboration with other students, and an unhealthy body and mind that struggling with the mental anxieties and physical problems associated with STD’s or teen pregnancy.

Statistics like these are a wake-up call to us as parents to monitor children’s television viewing. Controversial themes should be discussed between parents and children for appropriate processing. Children crave protective parental boundaries and they generally want to do well in school. It’s up to us to provide them with everything they need to reach academic goals and enjoy a successful future.

Next week we’ll look at more electronic influences on students.