surprised much?

according to this yahoo article, a study of 781 adolescents (15-18) done by the university of minnesota's school of public health found that teenagers who have their own TV in their bedrooms generally watch more TV on average than do other teens (who would've ever thought?), exercise less, eat crappier food, eat fewer meals with their families, and have lower GPAs on average.

two interesting things to note here in the findings:
1. no correlation with obesity and personal bedroom TVs
2. TVs in teen bedrooms show up more frequently in lower-income homes, and decrease in frequency as income levels go up

hmm ... those of you who know me know my thoughts about TV, and i could write a book about TV. TV isn't bad in itself. it's really not. some shows are wonderful -- educational, enlightening, hysterically funny [hello, the daily show, the office and 30 rock and there are certainly others but i haven't seen them ...] and some shows are just A REALLY GREAT FUCKING ESCAPE FROM REALITY WHEN THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING.

so, i don't hate on people who watch TV. i like TV a lot sometimes. kids can learn great things from PUBLIC TELEVISION and other neat movies and shows (in moderation). when you're a busy parent, TV can be a godsend. (when i was a nanny we watched aladdin [pieces of it] almost every single day. so they would nap, praise the lord. that's just how THOSE KIDS rolled ...)

we had sola una TV in my house in the living room growing up, and we could only watch one hour a day. seriously. this lasted until ... my parents stopped caring (oh, high school?), and by then it didn't matter because i didn't care much for TV anyway.

and something stuck, people. maybe i'm a case study? because now i'm an adult and i don't have a TV, haven't for years, and don't miss it in general. i don't take comfort in the background noise of a TV the way a lot of people do (actually, i kind of hate TV noise). i can't study around a TV on, or work when one is on. (because duh, when we watched TV when i was growing up, WE WATCHED IT, lol. since we only had an hour a day WE PAID ATTENTION when it was on).

the last couple weeks i was at a young colleague's house to have work meetings about curriculum we're designing. we met at her kitchen table, right by her living room ... and right by her giant TV. ok. except she left her TV on when we got started. and i was facing it. holy christ i was IN A STATE. i mean, the SOUND WAS ON AND UP and everything. i couldn't stop looking at it. it dawned on me there was something wrong with me if i couldn't do both these things at once. finally after i made one too many comments on the home improvement show (make your own duvet for less by buying a cheap sewing machine and two bedsheets?? WTF??? JUST BUY A DUVET, OK?), i think said colleague got my hint i couldn't multi-task and finally turned it off. thank god. and the next week it happened again, except it was her BF playing really loud video games. holy shit. i'm not kidding. she lives with that, i realize. how can people work around that??? something must be wrong with me.

[sigh.] the teenagers. i'd like to think those with TVs in their bedrooms are developing some super-hero powers of multi-tasking ability i somehow missed, but alas: SURVEY SAYS NO. they're just NOT.

but somehow i suspect the lower-income parents who put the damn TVs in their kids' rooms in the first place might not be worried if their kids are drinking mountain dew for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and aren't worried if junior's GPA gets him into college or not. these families might be too busy with other things ... if they do sit together for dinner, it's probably around another TV in the house, anyway ...

i think it matters because teenagers (bless them) know everything (clearly. if you know one this is old news: they KNOW EVERYTHING), and yet they are still children and like children they need, more than ever, to know that someone is LISTENING to them and someone values their thoughts and opinions. i think teenagers need quality time with a parent just as much as a child does, and (in my humble opinion, as usual i'm full of ideas here) a TV DOES NOT LISTEN AND DOES NOT HUG AND KISS THEM AND SAY "WOW, YOUR DAY SUCKED. TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT WHILE WE WALK THE DOG. YOU GO GRAB THE LEASH AND I'LL CHANGE MY SHOES."