- The old line about British television
being the best in the world is a debateable one. What is beyond dispute
though is the fact that Britons are a nation of TV addicts and with the
advent of cable and satellite TV that trend is likely to continue. Whether
or not that is a good thing is another matter entirely. For its influence
could literally be described as deadening, as a growing amount of scientific
evidence would seem to indicate. But don,t expect to hear that from the
mainstream media, particularly television; there is simply too much at
stake here, politically and economically, for what follows to become more
widely known.
-
- According to Daniel Reid, writing in
the Tao of Health Sex and Longevity, the rays from a TV flicker erratically,
causing uneven and irregular stimulation of the retina. "This choppy
stimulus is transferred directly into the brain via the optic nerve, which
in turn irritates the hypothalamus. In scientific experiments conducted
in the US but ignored by both the government and the television industry,
rats exposed to colour TV for six hours a day became hyperactive and extremely
aggressive for about a week. Thereafter they suddenly became totally lethargic
and stopped breeding entirely." In effect their endocrine systems
had been 'burnt out.'
-
- Equally significant was the fact that
during the experiment the TV screens were kept covered in thick black paper
so that only the invisible rays came through. Thus, the damage was done,
not by the visible rays, but by the invisible radiation.
-
- These findings were echoed by Dr H.D.
Youmans of the U.S. Bureau of Radiological Health, quoted by Associated
Press in 1970: "We found rays escaping from the vacuum tubes to be
harder and of higher average energy than we expected. They penetrated the
first few inches of the body as deeply as 100-kilowatt diagnostic X-rays.
You get a uniform dose to the eyes, testes and bone marrow."
-
- The same year Dr Robert Elder, director
of the BRH, testified before Congress that even very minute doses of radiation,
which fall below the legal limit cause damage and that the damage is cumulative.
-
- In fact the evidence is beginning to
mount to the point where it can no longer be ignored, unless you happen
to watch a lot of TV, in which case you may not have noticed the results
of a study by Sally Ward. One of Britain's leading authorities on children's
speech development, she completed a ten year study which showed that the
background noise in the average two year olds' day can delay his or her
acquisition of a language by up to a year. Almost invariably, the background
noise came from television. Amongst other things she found that:
-
- * Children learn to speak from their
parents and parents don,t play or talk enough with their children when
the TV is on.
-
- * Background noise from TV or radio,
confuses infants. In response they learn to ignore all noise and then they
ignore speech.
-
- * Children of two years or older should
not be exposed to more than two hours of TV a day.
-
- * Children of one year old or younger
should not be exposed to television at all..
-
- Sally Ward is currently preparing to
focus on television and the way it affects our attention. In particular
she will be looking at Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
"A lot of people think it's chemical," she says, but in her
view . . . "it's very peculiar that at the onset of children's television
it got a lot more prevalent, and at the onset of children's videos it became
a lot more prevalent."
-
- Her concern is being reiterated in America
where child psychologist John Rosemond has stirred some controversy by
suggesting that ADHD is environmentally created; a suggestion that is completely
at odds with the pharmaceutical industry, which maintains that the disorder
is genetically inherited and makes considerable profit as a result. "Ritalin
may work, temporarily," says Rosemond, "But pharmaceutical intervention
won't change behavioural and motivational problems." And these he
blames on television - "the endlessly changing images, flickering
like the attention spans of ADHD children."
-
- Interestingly, Rosemond began questioning
the role of TV after his own son began displaying symptoms of ADHD. In
response he got rid of his television and within six weeks the boy's behaviour
was transformed. Today, he is a commercial airline pilot, a job which requires
the most serious concentration.
-
- Still, there may well be a place for
television in modern society: in our prisons. No, seriously...at a time
when its budget is being cut by over 15% you may ask why Britons prisons
service is spending an estimated £5 million on television sets for
a third of its inmates? Why? Well, according to David Roddan, general secretary
of the prison governors association: "It's the best control mechanism
you can think of."
-
- Extracts from The Tao of Health, Sex
and Longevity, Simon & Schuster and GET A LIFE! David Burke and Jean
Lotus (Bloomsbury ISBN 0-7475-3689-9)
|
