Teens who watch too much TV develop a risk of developing a poor attention span and learning problems, according to the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
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What’s too much? Three or more hours a day does the trick, according to a study of 678 families in upstate New York. Subjects were questioned about their viewing habits three times between 1983 and 1993 when they were the average ages of 14, 16 and 22.
“Television-viewing time at mean age 14 years was associated with elevated risk for subsequent frequent attention difficulties, frequent failure to complete homework assignments, frequent boredom at school, failure to complete high school, poor grades, negative attitudes about school, overall academic failure in secondary school and failure to obtain post-secondary education,” the study shows.
It could be that kids with learning problems use TV as a crutch, but parents and teachers should monitor viewing habits to see why their kid may be watching TV to his or her detriment.
