The average American child spends three to five hours a day watching TV. In 1961, the average child began to watch television at age three; however, today it is nine months. Yet, most parents think that television has bad influence on their children. For example, in the early 1970s, my parents believed that my bad eyesight was the result of sitting too close to the screen, and they therefore made my stay at least six feet from it. Today, most people have no such worry, but many new ridiculous   sayings have appeared: *TV makes kids stupid. Many children watch more educational programs when they are pre-schoolers. When they grow up, they can read more books and have much better ideas to solve difficult problems than other children. *TV makes kids violent. The real story is not so simple. Hundreds of studies show that watching violence on TV makes children more aggressive  . But a study of over 5,000 children also finds that some positive programs make children kinder. The problem is that kids are increasingly watching shows with violence instead of those suitable for their age. *Sitting around watching TV makes kids overweight. An experiment finds that when children watch less television, they do lose extra weight; however, reducing their television time does not make them more active. The real problem lies in snacking  . A widespread habit for kids, and junk-food advertisements. *TV helps kids get to sleep. The opposite is true. The more television children watch, the more likely they are to have irregular sleep and nap  patterns. Allowing kids to watch television is part of the problem, not the solution. Why are children spending much time watching TV likely to be fat?
Watching TV makes children lazy and inactive. Children are attracted by the food advertisement on TV. Watching TV doesn't burn up as much fat as doing sports. Children like to snack while watching TV.