First, a confession and disclaimer. I am not one to cast stones when it comes to TV viewing. I view plenty of it, and long have. Save for a four-month period when I deliberately stashed my TV in the closet in order to read and listen to the radio, it has been the background noise of my life. But, in the same way as I recognize the unhealthiness of soda consumption, yet drink it anyway, I do believe TV consumption has a corrosive effect on our potential to learn, to communicate, and to relate - and that's the subject of this week's post.
Last week I wrote about the connection between the act of reading and spiritual formation. My point was not to say that kids who are poor readers can't grow spiritually, only to point out that reading compliments spiritual growth, because when we read, we employ many of the same disciplines that help develop our spiritual muscles. The opposite is true of television: by its very nature and what it demands from a viewer, it's a detriment to spirituality; and as far as kids are concerned, the less of it, the better.
How does TV hurt us? Three ways, principally: it's a poor teacher, it makes us passive, and it cheapens our discourse - and all as a byproduct of being what it is. The danger that screen media (TV, movies, and some Internet sites) pose to spiritual development in children doesn't lie in the content, but in the nature of electronic media itself to discourage active engagement. With TV, we're just kind of…there.
If it's true that the best teaching answers the questions students are already asking, TV is the antithesis of that: you have to take whatever you get. For young kids especially this is not good, and in fact we know that TV viewing could impact more than just their potential to learn, but their very ability to learn as well. What science tells us about brain development in children adds urgency to the need to immerse kids in engaging, active learning environments. A baby's brain is rapidly establishing new nerve connections (trillions of them), literally building "brain highways" that will endure for all of life. But, this process doesn't continue forever. Around age ten, it slows down, and nerve endings that remain unattached begin to die off. (See - those of you who suspected kids lost their minds when they hit puberty - there's something to that!) What happens with our brains, then, during the first ten years of life is utterly crucial in determining how we will think and learn forever. And there are no "do overs"! That's why the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen media time, ever, for kids under 2, because a developing brain needs for the baby to be able to manipulate its environment in order to learn. TV gives them just the opposite of that.
But just because you're older than 10, don't go running for the remote. Television works against us because it makes us passive. Not inactive, as in, we could be exercising instead, but passive, in the sense that it requires nothing of us. What's more, we couldn't give back to it if we wanted to. A television program can't answer our questions, doesn't really care for our reactions, isn't concerned with whether we need something repeated or just need to ponder it for a while. And even if the creators of shows did care, there's nothing they could do about it - because the show must go on.
And so we, as viewers, learn not to think, but just to receive, which in turn affects our perception of the world (particularly when it comes to world events) as a place where "things just happen." This phenomena is documented brilliantly in a 1986 book by Neil Postman titled Amusing Ourselves to Death. A viewer might see or hear something that confuses or intrigues or excites or saddens them, but they have no way to engage the messenger and thus no ability to affect the next message, or the next, or the next. You cannot set aside a TV program and write about it or think about it or dialogue about it (TiVo excepted) without missing the next! exciting! development! You are left with a choice: think actively about what you're watching, and miss the rest of the show, or stop thinking and merely absorb the cavalcade of images. If you've ever been watching TV with others and wanted badly to comment on something, but didn't for fear of missing what was coming next, you've experienced this.
Television actually works against one's ability to grasp hold of an idea, to wrestle with it and truly understand it. In this way, TV is the exact opposite of a good conversation or a good teacher: it does all the talking. TV will not let you think very deeply, and it does not invite your interaction. Yet these all need to happen if we are to learn.
The third harm from TV is the cheapening effect it has on our communication with one another. I'm withholding judgment on e-mail, instant messaging, and text messaging because I think the jury is out on those: they've resuscitated written interpersonal communication and allowed us to maintain fellowship with a wider circle than ever before. But TV's negative influence on discourse stems from its interference with one's ability to read well, which in turn affects one's tendency to read at all, which in turn affects one's ability to have meaningful conversations (because there is nothing of substance to talk about). (And this is the downside to the aforementioned text messaging instant messaging: most of the messages teenagers exchange are empty and banal. As Henry David Thoreau noted about the telegraph, "We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate.")
All of this - the way TV dulls us, disengages us, distances us from real-world interaction, and causes us to read less - amounts to a hindrance for spiritual development. How? It robs us of the skills and knowledge required to carry on a spiritual relationship. Am I saying that TV viewers can't have spiritual lives? Not at all. What I am saying is that the richness of one's spirituality will be molded by habits of mind, heart, and hands - that is, our tendencies when it comes to thinking and processing, empathizing and valuing, interacting and serving. At a very basic level, families who spend lots of time individually watching TV and little time talking to one another grow apart. It's for this reason that families are urged to eat dinner together and have conversations, with the TV off. Similarly, kids who are conditioned to immediately turn on the TV when they walk into a room or can't stand solitude will find the prospect of spending 15 minutes of alone time with God unappealing and impossible. There are kids I've encountered in educational and church settings who are practically incapable of answering a question or having a dialogue because they are so unused to that, preferring instead to be talked to, which is what TV does best.
What's the answer? It's too simple to say "turn it off", despite the title of this article, because like any habit, it takes time to break. Moreover, we're hooked: every favorite show has become Must-See-TV, and to repeat, I'm not claiming any special exemption from TV's spell. But most kids would do better with less of it, particularly if it was replaced with a healthier alternative. It's probably not a good idea to wean your young TV junkie for the express purpose of having him sit alone in his room 20 minutes with his Bible. Some kids may be ready for that, but most would resent it. However, anything that involves fellowship and parent-child communication and engagement is a great substitute. Go to a museum. Go to the mountains. Go to a skatepark. Go clean up trash. Walk a neighbor's dog. Go learn a new sport. Go outside and play. Work up to family devotion time, then encourage individual devotions. And whatever you do, talk about it, before, during, and after. Brains were meant to learn that way. Kids were meant to grow that way. God is meant to be related to that way.
May your journey from the realm of electronic clamor to unexceptional tranquility be blessed, successful, and worth it.
Info, articles, and thoughts for parents of kids at North Coast Calvary Chapel.
