I believe you have pinned down one of several prime contributions to America’s dysfunctional learning process and failure to educate. I have noticed in several families were high TV, lax parenting and pop-culture norms are applied the children are socially, mentally and educationally lacking. Especially, where the children are diagnosed with some malady such as ADHD, Autism and get this one “Youthful Tendency Disorder” (YTD) and/or medicated. In many of these families, regimentation, supervision and discipline are seemingly to be in short supply. However, in two cases, one of hyperactivity the other a form of mild Autism, I noticed when interacting with their parents, they were not sure of what was being said or why certain behavior occurred at certain times. After listening to the children and watching them interact, I told the parents that they were emulating and speaking almost exactly like cartoon or child TV characters. The parents turned off the TVs, CDs and computer games…what a battle that was from what I was told; the improvements manifested shortly thereafter. In another case, of a moderate dysfunction, the child was diagnosed as having Autistic Characteristics. Shortly after, father relocated for employment, and was staying with a 72 year old aunt who lived on a small ranch where she raised five boys. After about 45 days this supposedly Autistic child was able to stay on task, speak reasonably well, could formulate whole sentences and was not acting-out. This improvement was attributed to no more than several hours a week of TV as a family event, no computer games or cartoons, plus had chores and had to play outside. The last I heard the child is making progress at a reasonable pace. I believe America’s crisis has more to do with fantasy entertainment, conveniences, laziness and inability to have a realistic/commonsense approach as a national mindset, direction and goals.
Some may poo-poo the idea, but my grandson was two months premature and weighed 3.1 pounds when born. He still started talking at about a year, and full sentences by two. He is now 5 and can carry on a conversation with an adult.
My kids refused to have a TV, and when they brought him over, we turned ours off, too. His “special” treat on his 3rd birthday was to watch his FIRST video. His father read to him out of the Bible and read the whole thing to him before he turned one.