Thomas Chatterton Williams, in his guest column in Thursday’s 4/21/11 Daily News, relates that the Nielson ratings agency has discovered that American’ youths watch more than 50 hours of TV per week and over 200 hours per month!
Further, Williams states that the passive nature of television viewing causes students to be passive learners. Reading, on the other hand, is inherently interactive and helps readers to think critically and exercise their brains.
Making matters worse, Williams quotes media theorist Neil Postman a media analyst, who wrote that "the programming content, as we consume it, does not and cannot satisfy the conditions for honest intellectual involvement."
As to a realistic possible solution, Williams says we have to face a painfully simple truth. We must attack the problem in our own homes by limiting television viewing.
Dave Shlakman
Howard Beach
