By Lawrence Kutner
By the end of last summer, Dr. David Hursh had noticed that his two sons, ages 8 and 12, were spending more time in front of the television set than doing just about anything else except sleep and cat.
“They were watching TV and playing video games more than 20 hours a week,” said Dr. Hursh, an assistant professor in the graduate school of education and human development at the University of Rochester.
His children were actually spending Jess time watching television than were other American children their age. Dr. Dorothy G. Singer of the Yale University Family Television Research and Consultation Center said that preschoolers average 23 hours a week of television, elementary school students watch 29 hours a week and junior high ‘and high school students watch about 13 hours a week.
While many parents pay close attention to the number of hours their children spend in front of the set television researchers and mental health professionals say the total number is probably not what is most important, Parents may be better off focusing on how well their children are doing in other parts of their lives what the programs they watch are about and the ways in which children select and watch television programs.
“You know your children are watching too much television if it’s interfeting with other aspects of their lives, like acquiring friendships, doing school work and having a strong relationship with their family,” said Dr. Jonathan Bloomberg, a child psychiatrist at Rockford Memorial Hospital in Rockford, 111. As long as children are doing well in those areas, he’s not too concerned with how many hours of television they watch.
“I watched enormous amounts of television when I was in grade school and junior high,” Dr. Bloomberg said. “It was a way of getting a temporary break from academic pressure.”
The match between children’s emotional maturity and the content of the programs they watch is also important Some material is clearly inappropriate, like graphic violence or blatantly sexual images. But other seemingly innocent programs may frighten children to lead to nightmares.
For example, preschoolers have difficulty separating fantasy from reality and are very concerned about whether their parents and other adults can be relied upon to care for them. A cartoon in which a baby animal is separated from its mother can terrify them. School age children may worry that a hurricane or fire halfway around the world may be only a few blocks away and threatening their home. Older children may be confused by the behavior they sec on afternoon soap operas.
“Young adolescents feel a lot of social pressure to see scary movies,” said Dr. Kate Hendrix, a research associate at the Education Development Center in Newton, Mass., who has studied how television violence affects children. “They don’t necessarily have the skills to understand what they‘re seeing.”
In addition, children may not fully comprehend the difference between a program and a commercial until they are in the upper grades of elementary school. Dr. Bloomberg recalled a 7yearold boy he was treating during Operation Desert Storm. The boy had seen a@ news program in which Gen.H.Norman Schwarzkopf had commented on a videotape of a missile strike on Baghdad.
“He asked me if this really happened or if the general was advertising a new video game,” Dr, Bloomberg said.
Finally, children watch television in different ways. At its best, television can be a powerful teacher and a trigger for imaginative play, At its worst, it can encourage a lack of exercise, over eating (several studies have shown that children who watch a lot of television tend to be more obese than those who watch less) and an unquestioning desire for what is advertised in commercials.
“Ask yourself if your children are watching television or watching specific programs,” advised Dr. Kun Jensen, a clinical psychologist in Cleveland. “Are they watching for specific content or to kill idle time?”
To help his children spend less time watching television, Dr. Hursh had them make a chart to keep track of what they watched. The added paperwork meant that it was more difficult for them simply to turn on the television to see what was on, and to flip back and forth between programs.
“After a month, they’d cut back about 40 percent, just by making television watching a conscious choice,” Dr. Hursh said.
Before trying to change how your children watch television, it’s a good Idea to take a hard look at how you do it.
“Children will pay close attention to how and what their parents watch on television, “said Dr. Kate Hendrix, a research associate at the Education Development Center in Newton, Mass. If you’re using television as a way to kill time, your children will probably do the same thing.
Here are some other things to bear in mind:
Plan a viewing strategy.
Simply telling your children to cut down on the amount of television they watch probably won’t work. Even if it does, it may not help with other issues associated with watching television.
There are several publications that offer suggestions on how. To change your family’s viewing habits. One, “Children and Television: A Primer for Parents” is available free of charge if you send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Boys Town Public Services Department, Boys Town, Neb. 68010.
If your children are grade school age or older, it’s a good idea to involve them in discussing the goals and planning the Strategy. Should you have different policies for school nights? Will you sit down and plan all your viewing at the beginning of the week? Watch television together and talk about the programs you see. “Your child’s impression of what happened may be very different from yours,” said Dr. Dorothy G. Singer, a director of the Yale University Family Television Research and Consultation Center and an author of “Use TV to Your Child’s Advantage” (Acropolis Books, 1990, $9.95).
Help your children plan other activities.
A young child who is in the habit of plopping down in front of the television set after school may have: trouble thinking of other things 16 do. Sit down and write a list of other things the child might enjoy or the two of you might like todo together. Post the list on or next to the television.
“That way, your child won’t complain that she’s bored all the ime,” Dr, Singer said.
Introduction to Sikhism by:G.S.Mansukhani Is it possible to conquer death?
Death has been interpreted in different ways. According to the general concept, death is the extinction of the body and the sense organs. According to Sikh Gunis, death is the forgetting of God, Guru Nanak says: “If 1 remember Him, I live; when J forget Him, lam dead”, it is this forgetfulness of God which makes man enter the cycle of birth and death.
Sikhism was rebom under the shadow of the sword. Guru Gobind Singh, at the time of the creation of the Khalsa Panth, called for Sikhs who were prepared to lay down their lives. The acid test of the Khalsa is his readiness to give up his life. The Khalsa covets the best type of death— death in battle—while fighting for the poor, the needy or the oppressed or his Faith, According to Sikhism, physical death is neither painful nor terrible. All must die because the physical frame is subject to decay. But there is something like an art of dying. There 1s a joy at the prospect of a coming death, Even the worst tortures cause no fear to the devotee. Look at the Sikh martyrs. It is no joke to be cut joint by joint, to have the skin peeled off, to be sawn alive, to be blown away at the cannon’s mouth, or to be crushed under the wheels of a railway engine. Martyrs are the real conquerors of death. Those who know the art of true living also know that of true dying. True living is dying to the self, the ego, and living up to God. True dying is the privilege of the brave who die for an approved cause. Aimless dying—for no cause—helps nobody. To conquer death is to merit salvation. Death has a terror for ordinary mortals. They are afraid because they have not made any progress on the spiritual plane. They feel wormed for their sins and fear of punishment for their misdeeds. A ‘True’ devotee welcomes death as friend and as a benefactor because he looks forward to a union with the Supreme Being. He knows that it is through the gate of physical death that he will be able to embrace his Beloved Lord. Death is nothing but a gateway to Divinity and Etemity.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 17, 1993
