A new study suggests that teens who watch more than an hour of television a day are much more likely to become violent.

My question: Much more likely than what? Apparently, much more likely than the teens who watch less than an hour of TV a day. Where is this control group? Chained to a drum of heating fuel at McMurdo Station with an unobstructed view of the Ross Ice Shelf? Where are they getting their comparative data?

I don’t mean to poo-poo the TV/Violence connection, and Justin certainly doesn’t get much quality TV time right now (due to his inability to get anything done when the pretty pictures are playing), so maybe I don’t see the connection.

Give me a study connecting television viewing, obesity, and lower back problems — I’ll buy that one.

One exception: whenever I see Judge Judy, I want to put my foot through the screen, so I guess there's one direct connection.

But she's just so SASSY!!!

I pulled the plug on that 'stasis in front of the moving picture box' when we moved. No cable, no TV.

We have a small TV for videos. We've used it about 6 times in 3 years.

I have Justin's problem... and I can't turn it off for myself - somebody else has to come into the room and drag me away.

It's painfull in public, now that restuarants have a box in every corner. People will be talking to me and I will be "wha..?"

It doesn't even matter that the sound is off and the captions are in Spanish... It is guaranteed I will be transfixed.

Sad, really.

(I'm sure it is the cause of my lack of spelling skills, too... really...)

My friends in North Carolina have the TV on very rarely. In fact, up until they just moved to a new house and bought a new TV, they had a little 12" color box that they'd used through their children's young lives (Ryan is 11, Bridget is 9).

Ryan is utterly transfixed by TV. Much like Jenn describes, you have to turn it off or stand in front of it, breaking his view of the TV to get his attention.

Bridget, on the other hand, is transfixed like anyone else, and will walk away if you simply ask her to.

They both are avid readers. So it's not like it's the children's only entertainment. But with Ryan...turn it on and you'll never get him away from it.

I argue with the History Channel. I yell at Discovery when they misrepresent the warload of fighters and bombers.

As for the study, there was something on NRP about it being a 17 year study, yadda, yadda. No idea how they got this conclusion though. Sounds like a BS study by the Radio Broadcasters Association, or the National Publishing Institute.

No problem with Judge Judy, but I tend to want to smack the TV when I see that freaky dude with the Nazi-like face scar on Crossfire.

I think the tv box is a must. How else can Dave and I play our Play Station 2??? ;-)