Idiot box addiction
In a survey conducted by the Social Development Foundation (SDF) of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) among children and parents all over the country (including Goa), it emerges that most Indian children between the ages of 6 and 17 watch television for more than five hours a day! This puts Indian children on par with their US counterparts. Just the other day, addressing ‘The Hindustan Times’ Leadership Summit in New Delhi, former US President Al Gore lamented that Americans are developing shorter attention spans because they watch five hours of television a day. So, at least in terms of television viewing, India is already a superpower!
The parents, says the survey, are of the opinion that TV programmes are getting worse, because of derogatory language and adult themes in shows that air from 7pm to 10pm. Does that mean the parents don’t watch these shows themselves? Unlikely, but the survey does not enlighten us about this. Excessive viewing of television has scientifically been linked to a greater risk of obesity, as well as aggressive and violent behaviour amongst children. An adult (or child) who watches five hours of TV a day is far more likely to be obese than one who watches for less than an hour.
Most kids are already addicted to television long before they enter school, the survey says. Two-thirds of infants and toddlers watch a screen for an average of two hours a day. Kids under six years old watch an average of about three to four hours of ‘screen media’ a day (TV, videos and DVDs). Alarmingly, 56 per cent of four- to six-year-olds, when asked to choose between watching TV and playing with their friends, preferred television. Children spend more time watching television than any other activity except sleep, the survey found.
The survey also highlights that children younger than 8 years cannot uniformly distinguish between real life and fantasy or entertainment, and that they quickly learn that violence is an acceptable solution to resolving problems, particularly if the aggressor is the hero. Children who watch violent shows are more likely to hit their playmates, argue, disobey authority, and are less willing to wait for things.
The news is not much better for older kids. Pre-teens and teens (eight to 18 years) spend between four to six hours a day in front of a TV screen. But, the survey said, the long-term effects of television on academic achievement were unclear. Be that as it may, it seems clear that parents need to step in and create activities for their kids that can wean them away from excessive television viewing. Otherwise, their prospects in life will suffer.
Learn from Nepal
Two managers from a new casino in Goa are finding to their cost that the police and judiciary in Nepal are much tougher than their counterparts back home.
Jasbir Singh Gill recruited 14 Nepalese girls in Kathmandu to work in his casino, but was arrested on the charge of trafficking in women when the parents of one of the girls complained. When his boss Harish Bhagwan Suryavanshi went with documents to prove that it was bonafide recruitment, he was jailed too.
While this seems very unjust, one point is noteworthy. A Kathmandu district court has ordered them to be in custody till their trial is concluded. It seems foreigners accused of crimes in Nepal face obligatory imprisonment, even if their alleged offences are bailable, to prevent them from escaping the country. If the police and judiciary in Goa were more stringent on these aspects, we would not have Atala-type ‘gotalas’.
