commerce

INTRODUCTION
More than half of television viewers in India today are children of below 15 years. And yet there is hardly any sensitivity about the relevance and impact of what is dished out by various television channels. All of them are operating in a competitive mode for one up man ship in the race for viewer ship. In this order channels are concerned more about “what interests or attracts” rather than what is “in the interest” of children. Neither the Government nor the parents or the teachers seems to be concerned about this situation. For, the generation next and the civil society of the country is shaped and moulded by what they are exposed to today on the “idiot-box” day in and day out.
Research studies over the years, world over have brought out various types of negative impact of intense viewing of television by children. The direct influence of TV viewing on the extent of violence and deviant behaviour pattern of children has been reiterated – even in India. In fact, there are a couple of confessions by adolescents, even a biography, as to how they picked up ideas about a rape or robbery or revenge or killing or suicide or kidnap, etc from one or other TV programme. Even some court judgments have commented on such effect of TV programmes. That TV has a double-edged effect and that it is the negative character which impacts more than positive potential often is known. But what is not realized is that there are no serious efforts to explore positive virtues of TV and that parents who should be more concerned about such a phenomena hardly do anything about it. In fact, CMS studies have brought out, for example, that in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, parents enjoy the same fare of TV along with their children and as keenly; where as in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, parents try to restrain their children in favour of some discriminative viewing. Teachers and social activists in a couple of places have been occasionally demonstrating about the influence of television contents. Political parties too do not seem to be concerned to do something about. BJP, however, had referred to this adverse trend in its election manifesto a few years ago. But did nothing on coming to power.
Even the code for advertising, although outdated and inadequate, is conscious of “implications” to children of certain broadcasts and realizes the scope for misuse. For example, under the code no advertisements should be accepted which lures children to believe that if they do not own or use the product advertised they will be inferior to other children or that they are liable to ridicule for not owning or using a particular brand. However, in reality there is neither strict monitoring of the advertisements nor a rigid follow-up despite that many ads on television fall under this category. And most of these children’s channels have become marketing outlets for brands altogether to India.
Against this background and in this context there are certain recent trends on the Indian TV scene, which need to be taken note. More and more channels are going for “children’s programmes”. In fact, more channels are coming in describing themselves as “children’s channel” or positioning themselves as such. Most of these are beamed into the country as if no one in the country, the Government the least, is concerned about such a trend. What is not taken note is that (a) most of these children’s channels and programmes are of foreign origin and are reruns over the years, (b) they do not have anything to do with enrichment or supplementary scope for school education or imparting moral standards (there are of course some good pre-school programmes); (c) some of these foreign channels are now entering their second phase in the country taking to marketing of toys and tools for children promoted in these serials. And, worse, as a result of all this, there has been a decline recently in the extent of locally originated programmes for children even in Indian channels. To complicate the matter further these foreign programmes for children are now being dubbed into Indian languages.
There are international lobbies operating aggressively to thrust upon animation serials for children on countries like India. That is how today cartoons have become synonymous for Children’s TV. Most of these serials are produced after so much research. But not for ensuring educational or general knowledge aspects but for capturing and retaining eyeballs of children again and again and to see their serials have certain “dope-effect” on children.
Electronic Media and Learning
There are some positive aspects of television viewing. Television does more than entertain children. It can also teach children about choices and about values like right and wrong, cooperation and selfishness, dependence and independence, health and sickness, understanding and prejudice, and negotiation and violence.
Computers are also great opportunities for children to express their ideas by writing (typing) papers, find out more about their interests by searching the Internet, and communicate and interact through instant messaging and e-mail with friends and loved ones who may not live nearby.
Television and media are major influences on child development and behaviour. Therefore, it is important that parents help children use TV and media in positive ways and to avoid the negative influences.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
To analyize the positive and negative effects of Internet and television on children and to conclude on the Indian and global situation through the impacts on the health, education, and fantasy of children. Also to go through the age wise tables and charts of the Internet usage and television viewing.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The Impact of Media
Positive Effects : Since television is such a powerful teacher, it stands to reason that it should be able to teach positive things and produce beneficial results. This is clearly the case. There is substantial literature demonstrating these effects. In fact, one show, “Sesame Street,” is the most extensively researched program in history. Its producer, Children’s Television Workshop, has tracked hundreds of studies showing its educational benefits. The potential positive effects of television and videos for children fall into the following categories: Cognitive Skills. As early as the 1950s and 1960s television was used to teach students of all ages a variety of academic skills. Research shows it can be effective in the development of skills in reading, vocabulary, mathematics, problem solving, and creativity, as programs such as “Sesame Street” and “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” have demonstrated. Academic Content. Students throughout the last half of the 20th century have benefited from media’s effective presentation of information from many diverse areas of knowledge including history, art, music, science, anthropology, literature, and many others. “Discover” and “The Magic School Bus” are examples. Prosocial behaviour. A number of studies show that children can learn positivebehaviours, such as caring, task persistence, cooperation, empathy, and others from a variety of programs on both public and commercial television.
Impact of Advertisements
There is evidence that children younger than 6 or even 8 years of age do not understand that the purpose of advertising is to sell a product. Also, children have trouble distinguishing between ads and programmes. Yet, the average child may see more than 20,000 TV commercials each year. In addition, there are some television programmes for children which have frequent and long commercials for expensive toys and games.
Although, advertising helps to support the programmes on commercial television, scientists have found that advertising can cause children to "want" toys or foods that they do not need and that their families cannot afford. In addition to the tension that may arise in families, many parents feel that advertising encourages their children to be too concerned about "things" rather than people. It is important that parents tell their children that the purpose of advertising is to sell products to as many viewers as possible only.
Comment
Almost 100% of the population in urban Goa has access to a television, and watching cricket is popular across all social classes. However, the possibility that the children who were interested enough in cricket to watch it on television were also more likely to experiment with tobacco cannot be completely excluded.
Despite a high level of knowledge about the adverse effects of tobacco, cricket sponsorship by tobacco companies increased children's likelihood of experimentation with tobacco by creating false associations between smoking and sport. Many of the children believed that the cricketers smoked. We previously found that half of those who experiment with smoking will become regular smokers.4 Our results therefore support the case for banning sports sponsorship by tobacco companies.
We thank P C Gupta, senior scientist at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bombay, for his help in analysis of this study.
Conflict of interest: SGV is chairman of the National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication, India, and all authors work in cancer institutes.
GOVERNMENT RULES FOR ADVERTISEMENTS
Advertising and Children: 22. No advertisement for a product or service shall be accepted if it suggests in any way that unless the children themselves buy or encourage other people to buy the products or services, they will be failing in their duty or lacking in loyalty to any person or organisation.
23. No advertisement shall be accepted which leads children to believe that if they do not own or use the product advertised they will be inferior in some way to other children or that they are liable to be condemned or ridiculed for not owning or using it.
24. Any advertisement which endangers the safety of the children or creates in them any interest in unhealthy practices, shall not be accepted, e.g. playing in the middle of the road, leaning dangerously out of a window, playing which match boxes and other goods which can cause accidents.
25. Children shall not be shown begging or in undignified or indecent manner.
26. No advertisement likely to bring advertising into contempt or disrepute shall be permitted. Advertising shall not take advantage of the superstition or ignorance of the general public.
27. No advertisements of talismans, charms and character reading from photographs or such other matter as well as those which trade on the superstition of general public shall be permitted.
28. Advertising shall be truthful, avoid distorting facts and misleading the public by means of implications and omissions. For instance, it shall not mislead the consumer by false statements, as to:
(i) The character of the merchandise, i.e. its utility, materials, ingredients, origin etc.
(ii) The price of the merchandise, its value, its suitability or terms of purchase.
(iii) The services accompanying purchase, including delivery, exchange, return, repair, upkeep etc.
(iv) Personal recommendations of the article or service. The quality or the value of competing goods or the trustworthiness of statements made by others.
29. Testimonials of any kind from experts etc. other than Government recognised standardisation agencies shall not be permitted.
30. No advertisement shall be permitted to contain any claims exaggerated as to lead inevitably to disappointment in the minds of the public.
Media violence affects the behaviour and attitudes of viewers
The following effects are of the greatest concern:
Iimitation of Behaviour.
Since young children’s primary way of learning is observation and imitation, it is not surprising that research demonstrates that children imitate behaviour they see on television, starting as young as 14 months old. While children imitate positive social behaviour they see in the media, they also imitate the violent, aggressive behaviour. For younger children this imitation includes cartoon or slapstick violence, which they do not differentiate from realistic violence. Programs such as “Power Rangers” and “Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles” are examples that demonstrate this phenomenon. Violent Heroes. Children will emulate and imitate the models with which they are presented. Models they like and whom they find appealing are even more influential.

That is why violent heroes are even more harmful to children than violent villains: the television shows “Cops” and the Terminator movies are examples.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Impact of Internet on children
It is postulated that juvenile violence is one of the biggest problems facing societies in the new millennium.
Contributing factors to the problem of juvenile violence, and relating to this paper, include the violence that children are watching on television, at the movies, the music they are listening to unrestricted use of the Internet, violent video games and violent coin-up games. A recent statement, based on 30 years of research, from four national Indian health organizations namely Indian Medical Association,
Indian Academy of Pediatrics, Indian Psychological Association and Indian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, concluded that a direct link does exist between violence in the media and violence by children. In this paper the emphasis will fall on violent Internet games, as a form of electronic mass media, and the influence thereof on children and juveniles.
Definitions of Media Violence
Definitions of violence have been developed by various researchers over the years to guide studies on the violent content in the media. Furthermore, policy makers have also struggled with the question of what is considered violent content. Thus, what one person considers violent content, another may not, and how one is affected by violent images will also vary from one person the next.
Violence and Media Effect Research
The research referred to in this section of the paper will especially focus on violence on television and violent video games. Up to date little research has been done on violent Internet games per se, and the influence thereof on children, but if one considers the interactive nature of these games there just may be a connection. a group of young people for 22 years and found that those who watched more television at age eight were more likely, at age 30, to have committed more serious crimes, to be more aggressive when drinking and to punish their children more harshly than others. Other researchers have repeated Dr Eron's study and found similar results.
Misleading the Player of Violent Video/Internet Games
Internet games send the following false messages to the players:
• Problems can be resolved quickly and with little personal investment.
• The best way to solve a problem is to eliminate the source of the problem.
• Problems are right or wrong, black or white.
• It is acceptable to immerse oneself in the video game's rule driven reality without questioning the rules.
• Internet game. But they may be affected in one of the following ways:
• An aggressor effect: encouraging violent behaviour
• A victim effect: increasing fearfulness
• A bystander effect: leading to callousness, accepting violence as normal
• An appetite effect: building a desire to play more violent games [Tepperman: No Date].
RESEARCH DESIGN /METHODOLOGY
Study Effects of TV Violence on Children
Throughout this history of concern, there have been diverse questions raised about the extent of television violence and the nature and scope of its impact. Social scientists have employed three broad strategies to answer questions about prevalence, correlation, and causation. Questions about prevalence of television violence have been addressed by content analysis of selected broadcast periods. Questions about the correlation between television violence viewing and aggressive behaviour have been addressed by surveys of viewing patterns in relation to viewers' attitudes or overt behaviour. Questions about causation of aggressive behaviour by television violence viewing have been addressed by experiments conducted in either laboratory or field settings.
One of the earliest studies of television content was the work of Gerbner and his colleagues. With regard to the prevalence of violence, Gerbner found that 8 out of every 10 plays broadcast during the survey period in 1969 contained some form of violence. Similar studies conducted each year have documented consistently high levels of violence. It can be seen that the average for the three major networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) is about 70 per cent of all programmes, with peaks at 80 per cent and several drops to around 60 per cent or even 50 per cent. These drops or "valleys of violence" usually correspond to years in which there was significant public "outcry" about media violence.(e.g., 1973-74 following the 1972 release of the surgeon general's report on the harmful effects of television violence, 1982-83 following public concern about the bloody 1981-82 season that saw an all-time peak in the number of violent acts on children's Saturday morning television [about 31 acts per hour], drops in 1990 and 1995 following congressional and FCC hearings concerning the V-chip and educational programming). Even the very violent FOX network dropped form 90 per cent to 60 per cent from 1993 to 1995. Nevertheless, over almost a quarter century of yearly monitoring of television violence levels, this analysis has found the average level of violence in prime time holding about 5 violent acts per hour, whereas children's weekend morning programming has averaged around 25 violent acts per hour.
DATA COLLECTION METHODOLOGY
• Primary data (Questionnaire)
• Secondary Data (Source and Year)
• DATA PRESENTATIONS AND FINDINGS
• PRESENTATION OF DATA
• TV VIEWING HABITS
Excessive television watching is negatively related to children’s and youths’ academic attainment. For example, children and adolescents in grades 4, 8, and 11 who watch five or more hours of television per day have on average substantially lower test scores than other children.4 Yet, as depicted in Figure SD 1.5, substantial percentages of students report watching large amounts of television on a daily basis.
Differences by Age. The percentage of children who report watching excessive amounts of television declines with age, as indicated in Figure SD 1.5. Among 9-year-olds, almost one-fifth (19 percent) reported watching six or more hours of television each day in 1994. Among 13-year-old students, 13 percent watched six or more hours of television. Among 17-year-olds, only 8 percent watched this amount of television each day. For all three age groups, the percentage of students spending six or more hours a day watching television increased between 1982 and 1986, and then declined through 1994.
Differences by Gender. In general, larger proportions of boys than girls are watching television for long periods of time. This gender difference is particularly notable among younger students (see Table SD 1.5.A). In 1994, 23 percent of 9-year-old boys watched television for six or more hours per day, compared to 16 percent of girls in that age group.
Differences by Race and Ethnicity. For each age group and for each time point of assessment, larger proportions of black students watch television for six or more hours per day than do either white or Hispanic students. For example, among 9-year-old students, 40 percent of black students, compared to only 14 percent of white students, and 22 percent of Hispanic students reported watching television six or more hours per day during 1994 (see Table SD 1.5.A).
Differences by Type of School. In general, smaller percentages of children and adolescents who attend private school spend six or more hours per day watching television, than do students who attend public school, although the differences are usually not very large (see Tables SD 1.5.A, SD 1.5.B, and SD 1.5.C).
Differences by Parents’ Educational Level. Children’s television viewing habits also vary by parents’ educational level. In general, as parents’ educational levels increase, the percentages of children watching excessive amounts of television declines. In 1994, 23 percent of 13-year-olds whose parents had less than a high school education were watching six or more hours of television per day, compared to 17 percent of students with parents who graduated from high school, and 9 percent of students whose parents graduated from college (see Table SD 1.5.B). A similar pattern is evident for 17-year-olds (see Table SD 1.5.C). Percentage of Students Who Watch Six or More Hours of Television per Day, by Age, 1992-2004

Source: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1994 Trend Assessment and unpublished Trend Almanacs, Percentage of 9-Year-Old Students Who Watch Six or More Hours of Television per Day, by Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Type of School: 1988-2004

1988
1992
1996
2000
2004

———
———
———
———
———
Total
26
31
23
19
19 Gender

Male
30
34
27
22
23

Female
23
27
20
17
16

Race/Ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic
23
26
18
14
14

Black, non-Hispanic
43
53
47
41
40

Hispanic
28
33
26
25
22

Type of School

Public
27
32
24
21
19

Private
21
24
18
5
11

Note: Parent’s education is not reported at age 9 because approximately one third of these students did not know their parent’s education level.
Source: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1994 Trend Assessment; and unpublished Trend Almanacs, 1978-1990. Percentage of 13-Year-Old Students Who Watch Six or More Hours of Television per Day, by Gender, Race/Ethnicity, Type of School, and Parent’s Highest Level of Education: 1982-1994

1982
1986
1990
1992
1994

———
———
———
———
———
Total
16
20
17
13
13 Gender

Male
18
21
18
14
15

Female
15
19
15
11
12

Race/Ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic
13
17
12
8
8

Black, non-Hispanic
32
40
35
31
35

Hispanic
19
21
18
19
19

Type of School

Public
17
20
17
14
14

Private
13
(*)
11
6
4

Parents’ Highest Level of Education

Less than high school
23
32
24
21
23

Graduate high school
18
22
19
16
17

More than high school
13
18
12
9
13

Graduated college
12
15
13
9
9

Percentage of 17-Year-Old Students Who Watch Six or More Hours of Television per Day by Gender, Race/Ethnicity, Type of School, and Parent’s Highest Level of Education: 1998-2003

1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003

———
———
———
———
———
———

Total
5
6
9
9
7
8 Gender

Male
5
7
10
9
7
10

Female
5
6
8
8
7
7

Race/Ethnicity

White, non-Hispanic
4
5
6
6
4
5

Black, non-Hispanic
13
14
22
23
21
24

Hispanic
7
6
12
8
6
9

Type of School

Public
5
7
9
9
7
8

Private
4
3
(*)
(*)
3
3

Parents’ Highest Level of Education

Less than high school
8
10
17
11
10
14

Graduate high school
5
8
10
11
10
12

More than high school
4
4
9
8
5
8

Graduated college
3
4
4
5
5
5

*Too few observations for a reliable estimate.
Source: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1994 Trend Assessment; and unpublished Trend Almanacs, 1978-1990.

DATA ANALYSIS

-Screen Time: In 1997, Indian Children spent an average of 13 ½ hours per week with electronic media (Television, Video Games, Computers).
- Television continues to dominate children's media use. Children spent an average of 12 hours a week watching Television, 1 and a half hours a week playing electronic games, and a little less than that reading or being read to.
- Only 11% of the children reported no television viewing in the two days sampled. Most children (two thirds) watched somewhere between 1 and 20 hours of television per week. For a small percentage of children (2%), watching television amounted to a full time job (40 hours or more per week).
- Even the youngest children (0-2 year-olds) watched substantial amounts of television (about 9 hours a week).
- Seventy-five percent of children's television diet consists of educational/informative programs (23%), non-educational cartoons (35%) and comedy shows (17%).
- The content of television programs watched (i.e., children's television "diet") differs with age.
Both very young (0-2 years) and preschool (3-5 years) aged children watched substantial amounts of educational television (3-4 hours per week). However, while educational programs dominated by very young children's diet, preschool aged children television diet was dominated by non-educational cartoons.
- School aged (6-8 years) children's viewing was dominated by cartoons, while older elementary school (9-12 years) children's viewing was dominated by comedy shows. Both of these groups watched substantially less educational programs than the two youngest groups.

-Older children spent more time playing games, but less time playing educational games than did younger children. Similarly, boys played spent more time playing games, but less time playing educational games than did girls.
WHAT DETERMINES CHILDREN'S MEDIA DIET?
- Children from wealthier families watch less television overall.
Children in families with yearly incomes of $100,000 or more watch an hour and a half less television per week than children in families with yearly incomes of $25,000 or less (10 hours and 43 minutes versus 12 hours and 20 minutes per week).
- Children whose parents have more education watched less television overall, but more educational television.
- Children of parents with a college degree watched almost an hour (53 minutes) less television per week than children whose parents have a high school degree (11 hours and 7 minutes versus 12 hours per week).
- Children of parents with a college degree watched 15 more minutes per week of educational television programs than children whose parents have a high school degree (2 hours and 40 minutes versus 2 hours and 25 minutes per week).
- The quality of the home learning environment was related to children's television use and diet:
- Children living in an enriched home learning environment watched less television overall and more educational television.
Children in homes at the 75th enrichment percentile watched one half hour less television per week than those in homes at the 50th percentile.
Children in homes at the 75th enrichment percentile watched one half hour less television per week than those in homes at the 50th percentile.
- Family income was unrelated to the total time children played electronic games. However, children from families with higher incomes played more educational electronic games.
Children in families with yearly incomes of $100,000 or more played about a half hour more (28 minutes) of educational electronic games per week than children in families with yearly incomes of $25,000 or less (51 minutes versus 23 minutes per week).

CONCLUSION
Among children ages 0-5, viewing Sesame Street was related to better reading ability, while viewing Barney was related to more positive behavior. In short, content matters, and it matters in specific ways. Electronic media with positive educational and pro-social content can have positive influences on children - teaching them to read and to behave well with others.
In the majority of Indian homes, children have access to 50-100 television channels as well as videotapes and DVDs. Many also have video game equipment and computers that support interactive software and that provide access to the Internet for Web use and communication with others. Children spend a great deal of time with television, more than with any other single activity except sleep. The Panel Study of Income Dynamics Child Development Supplement (CDS) is one of only two existing survey's designed to be representative of children in the United States with information regarding both quantity and content of children's electronic media use. With the addition of the second wave of data in 2002-2003, the CDS will become the only data set of its kind in the world. Our findings regarding children's use of electronic media based upon the PSID-CDS data collected in 1997 are summarized below.
Long-term exposure to television, in which frequent violence is virtually inescapable, tends to cultivate the image of a relatively mean and dangerous world… in which greater protection is needed, most people "cannot be trusted," and most people are "just looking out for themselves.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Look for media "side effects." Unless they come clearly labeled as containing violence, sex, or graphic language, parents often overlook the messages children are getting from media. Instead, be aware of the media children and teens use and the impact it could be having. This is especially important if your child shows any of the following behaviors:
Poor school performance
Hitting or pushing other kids often
Aggressively talking back to adults
Frequent nightmares
Increased eating of unhealthy foods
Smoking, drinking, or drug use
Talk to your child's pediatrician about any behavior that is a concern. Your pediatrician may take a media history of your child. This can help uncover whether certain behavioral problems exist or could develop based on how much and what kind of media your child uses. If there are problems or you think they could develop, work with your child to change his media use.
Why is it important to talk with your kids about what they see on the news? As adults, we depend on "The News" as our primary source for information about the world we live in. Whether it's the local newspaper, nightly TV newscasts, cable news networks, news radio, or Web sites, graphic footage and accounts of the latest happenings in the world are being delivered right into our homes 24 hours a day. This constant barrage can be overwhelming for adults, but it can be especially confusing and frightening for young children. QUESTTIONNAIRE
What effect does TV have on children?
When my 18-month-old son watches TV, he turns into a zombie. He sits on the couch instead of going outside to play. He isn't allowed to watch TV at home, simply because what's on is pure garbage. I don't see any reason to have the TV on when children are around. It teaches them that being a couch potato is normal. It exposes them to violence. The action is continuous, so that they get bored with real play, and if they sit too close, it can damage their eyesight. How can we expect our kids to learn about real life, when what they see all day is pure fiction?
Does my experience with the mix of children and TV tell me it's a bad thing?
It certainly does. I recently retired after 18 years as a pediatrician in private practice. I had lots of opportunity to observe the behavior of young children and to think about the relationships I saw between children's behavior and what I knew about their family environments. Although I did not do any proper studies, the recent pilot study reported by Dr. Christakis supports the conclusions I had already arrived at unscientifically. These conclusions were:
Watching TV actually trains children to have short attention spans. Even "Sesame Street." (It's important to remember why "Sesame Street" came into being in the first place -- to "advertise" letters, numbers and basic concepts to children whose only knowledge base at that time was TV commercials. Sesame Street purposely imitated the style of TV commercials in order to catch the preschoolers' attention.)
Violence seen on TV is promptly imitated by the children who view it.
Children exposed to TV, and also to today's movies, come to expect super fast-paced action, violence, blood, noisy explosions, etc. or they become bored. Then they turn to violent, fast-paced video games, play with toy guns or other toy weapons of mass destruction or race around in cars once they get their licenses.
Don't even get me started on the bad effects of kids watching overly explicit and abusive sexual behavior and language.
Some children, especially boys, are more susceptible to these bad effects than others.
Now we have a generation of young adults, mostly male, who get their jollies from observing or participating in excessive violence and sexually abusive behavior, as illustrated by the Super Bowl half-time show, bloodthirsty ice hockey games, murderous drunken Fat Tuesday "celebrations," etc.
For the past several years, at well-child visits, I strongly advised parents to:
Use the "off" button on the TV. Never have a TV in any child's room. Never leave the TV on unless someone was explicitly watching a given show.
No TV at all around babies and toddlers.
No commercial TV for children of any age.
Parents should not watch anything they wouldn't want their children to see, including the commercials and the evening news, even if they think the kids are asleep. "If you wouldn't want your child to watch that, are you sure you need to see it?"
Limited viewing of carefully selected videos for preschoolers on up.
Parents won't have to deal with demands for video games, toy guns, skimpy clothes and Barbie dolls if they have followed the above advice. The quality of parents' lives will also be improved, especially if they get their news from the radio or newspaper instead of the superficial, overly gory presentations on most TV news programs.
On a positive note, I also encouraged parents to:
Read to their kids every day in a quiet environment. This should start in infancy, even though the baby doesn't get the story yet, and the "reading" session will be short.
Expose their kids to quality music. It doesn't have to be limited to the classics, but very loud music with too heavy a beat is counterproductive. Kids need to learn to appreciate more subtle kinds of sounds, rhythms and volume ranges.
Take their kids out -- to the zoo, to the aquarium, to museums, to concerts, on ferry boat rides, on train rides, on walks in the parks to look at birds and play in the playground. Remember that for young children, simple things like going to the post office or grocery store is how they learn how life works.
Play with their kids -- active games with running, ball-throwing, swimming outside, and board games, arts and crafts projects, cooking up treats, playing music and singing inside.
Talk with, not just to, their kids. Think up puzzles, trivia questions, trick questions, jokes. Write down kids' stories and read them back to the kids.
Get their school-age kids involved in sports, arts, music, or some other supervised activities outside of school.
If parents, grandparents, and child care personnel are busy with the above positive ways to keep children busy, no one will even miss the TV. They and their children also will probably not be especially interested in most of the current crop of blockbuster movies, or the overly sexualized clothing currently being marketed to young girls.