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ADHD caused by heavy TV viewing?
19 CommentsYahoo! News reports on a long-term study which seems to suggest that “watching television more than two hours a day early in life can lead to attention problems later in adolescence.” What is an attention ‘problem’, though? More often than not it’s diagnosed as a result of failure/disobedience/’abnormal’ behaviour at school. My attention span isn’t good when I’m forced to listen to someone at length in an uncomfortable environment. But then I’m in my element in front of a computer – my attention ‘problem’ disappears. It all depends on context, doesn’t it? ;)
Published on September 4, 2007 · Filed under: Uncategorized;
19 Responses to “ADHD caused by heavy TV viewing?”
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I agree completely that it depends on context. I am the same way. I also have a hard time paying attention when I am forced to listen to someone in an uncomfortable environment. However, when I am at home watching TV or on the computer, I can focus very intently. I watched a lot of TV when I was younger, but if it something that I want to focus on, I can focus on it.
As a future educator, this is something that might impact the way my students learn. I need to be aware of this if this is true and work with this situation.
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In my observations, I will steer clear of the H bit, since I have no expertise on that front. However, when he was 5, my older son was diagnosed with ADD. At the time, we were advised that 9 out of 10 ADD cases were male and that 6 out of 10 South African boys had the condition. Wow! 6 out of 10? Surely a condition so predominantly male and affecting more than half the male population must become part of the norm of what it means to be male? Perhaps ADD should be renamed testosterone ;-)
It is true, the child could seldom sit still for a moment in class. However, this had no impact on his attention span. As the psychologist to whom he was sent after diagnosis pointed out, while he was climbing all over the furniture, he was also paying very close attention to what was being said in the room. Often his voice would emanate from under a chair or behind the curtain as he corrected the details of some incident that was being related.
This same child was able to sit through a full-length movie or sit beside any willing adult for as long as that adult was prepared to read to him. He played chess from the age of 4… although I must admit that he played with little regard for strategy at that age and sought only to capture as many of his opponent’s pieces as quickly as possible and to win in the shortest possible space of time.
If I say that he was a bookworm from the age of 10 months, I don’t mean to imply that he could read at that age, but he was never happier than when surrounded by books, and he would page through them endlessly. His love affair with Asterix the Gaul dates back to the days when the books were longer than his legs. I repacked my lower bookshelves at least 5 times a day through his toddlerhood.
Once he was able to read, he devoured everything he could lay his hands on… and remembered it all. He has a mind like a trap and can remember even the smallest details. He devours the Guinness Book of World Records every year and collects old editions (any offers?). He can remember year on year what the previous records for many of the categories were and remarks on how they have changed or who new categories have been introduced.
Will somebody please explain to me how this level of attention is a DEFICIT?
Yet he still gets into trouble for fidgeting in class… sigh!
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I remember reading/hearing once that psychiatrist William Glasser didn’t believe in ADHD because he’d never encountered a child diagnosed with it who couldn’t pay attention once they were sat down in front of a computer.
Of course, all of this depends on what is defined as “attention deficit”, and how it is measured. If we’re measuring the attention spans of 21st Century children against what’s required in a 19th/20th Century model of schooling, then I’m sorry, but it won’t match up.
It’s strange that “we” can easily see and reflect on the fact that children have changed from what they used to be, but we still expect them to conform to suit the way we’ve always taught. I think Karyn’s point is excellent – what exactly is “normal” these days?
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Karyn, that’s an amazing statistic and one which, as Robert points out, makes a mockery of the whole system. I’m deeply suspicious of ‘disorders’ – a lot of the time they’re a blanket term for wider (school/home/whatever) issues.
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