2005/07/05

TV vs testing

"TV is bad for children's education, studies say" has a report from Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine which show that having TV in a child's bedroom lowers standardized test scores while having a computer raises the scores!

Why not conclude that we should stop testing in the first place?

What's funny is that the difference between having a TV in bedroom or not is 2 hours of viewing time per week: 13 vs 11 hours. 18 percent more TV viewing time has what impact? According this, it's only 8 percent worse. So, more TV time means less gap? Hmm, more TV for my children, it is!

(Just kidding of course, but these studies are really nonsensical.)