TV displaces active types of recreation.

It decreases time spent playing with peers. A child has less time for self-directed daydreaming and creative thinking. It takes away time for participating in sports, music, art, or other activities that require practice to achieve competence.

TV interferes with conversation and discussion time.

It reduces social interactions with family and friends.

TV discourages reading.

Reading requires much more thinking than watching television. Reading improves a youngster's vocabulary. A decrease in reading scores may be related to too much time in front of the TV.

Heavy TV viewing (more than 4 hours a day) definitely reduces school performance.

This much TV interferes with study, reading, and thinking time. If children do not get enough sleep because they are watching TV, they will not be alert enough to learn well on the following day.

TV discourages exercise.

TV watching promotes an inactive life-style, which leads to poor physical fitness. If accompanied by frequent snacking, watching TV may contribute to weight problems.

TV advertising encourages a demand for material possessions.

Young children will pressure their parents to buy the toys they see advertised. TV portrays materialism as the "American way."

TV violence can affect how a child feels toward life and other people.

Viewing excessive violence may cause a child to be overly fearful about personal safety and the future. TV violence may numb the sympathy a child normally feels toward victims of human suffering. Young children may be more aggressive in their play after seeing violent television shows.