The letter writer should consider giving up television. After years of watching even moderate amounts of tv people's

perceptions change.

On TV, people are beautiful, interesting, and witty. There are no awkward pauses, or jokes that fall flat.

If by some chance a show gets too repetitious, or there are a few too many pauses, the reaction is "BoRING, change the channel".

So of course people are going to feel anxious and self-conscious. It's no wonder that social anxiety has become a national epidemic.

After a few weeks or months tv-free, the LW might just find himeself to be more accepting of both himself and others.

Heather writes:

"terrorists bombed a train in India, and war broke out in the Middle East!

Meanwhile in the Southland, the hills were on fire, and the dusty orange

sky lent a lovely apocalyptic hue to the landscape, getting us all in the

mood for Armageddon."

Heather might not realize this but these events (even though they were

shown on the TV) are real, and very much tragic.

It seems me to be in very bad to taste to use them as a bit of decoration for

her review of "reality" TV.

This would like using descriptions of torture at Abu Ghraib, or Guantanamo as

a kind of edgy intro to the newest exciting season of 24!

Although I really don't have the stomach to actually look at these photos, I do think

Salon is doing a real public service by publishing them.

I hope this means that Salon will change how it covers the TV show 24. Kiefer Sutherland

has created a show with amazing product placement for torture. It's no wonder that the more blood

thirsty right-wing nuts love the show. Jack Bauer, the chief torturer and hero of the

show, is very much their superhero.

Children are spending over 4 hours per day watching TV. The science has been conclusive that this is not a good thing. The more a child watches TV, the more likely he/she is to fail in school, be obese, and be aggressive. This is based on over 40 years of research, so when Steven Johnson's book "Everything Bad Is Good for You" came out I was very curious.

His book got almost universal good reviews, so I was very interested to know what scientific studies he was basing his assertion on (that TV makes you smarter). As it turns out, he references a number of studies showing that video games improve certain brain skills, even intelligence, but he references absolutely none for TV. Presumably he looked, and was unable to find any studies to support his stunning assertion. But was this enough to get him to rethink his position? Or even enough to decide that perhaps it would be irresponsible to make such an fact-free argument to a huge audience of parents and future parents?

Apparently not.

"Everything Bad Is Good for You" has been widely read and read about. Who knows the number of parents who have decided to stop feeling guilty about the amount of TV their kids watch, and instead to encourage them to watch even more (to make them smarter). Steven Johnson should be ashamed.

rosiepink said:

"I rarely watch TV. If I do, it's usually a rented DVD."

Congratulations, your are in the minority since Americans watch, on average, over 4 hours a day, each and every day. That also means that for every person like you there is someone else who is watching 8 hrs per day, or two people who are watching 6 hours per day (every day).

"Parents need to stop blaming TV and video games for their children's anti-social behavior and take a look at themselves."

Although parents might suspect a link, it is scientists who have documented the links between TV and:

- reduced academic skills

- aggression

- obesity

- apathy

Raising kids is a tough job, and parents very often rely on the advise of experts. So when Steven Johnson comes out with his book "Everything Bad Is Good for You" that *sounds* very authoritative, that is positively reviewed, that gives the *impression* of being based on science, you can hardly blame parents for taking his advice seriously (to not worry about how much TV their kids watch).

The unfortunate result, is parents letting their kids watch more TV under the mistaken impression that TV makes you smarter.

Perhaps Mr. Johnson's next book will be on why eating junk food is actually good for you.