I was upset about it. I wanted more airtime for our generation. But now I see it was a protection, from adults who still felt a collective sense of responsibility toward the younger generation. Or maybe they were just fuddy-duddys out of touch with changing times, but nonetheless, it was a protection. Let kids have their own generation, let them cultivate their own interests, but not to the exclusion of all else. Construct your society so that doesn't happen. Link them with ideas of the past, ideas that have roots, ideas that have endured over time.

There seems to be some evidence from various studies that some entertainment (television) can really have a negative effect that isn't present with others with long-term problems potentially arising in concentration, reading skills, etc.

All that being said – it's the potential. Two kids being exposed to 'too much' TV could have very different outcomes. I'm used to adore bad TV (Knight Rider or Greatest American Hero anyone?) though I'm not sure I'd allow my own -lings to camp out in front of the TV as much as I did. Perhaps it just breaks the softer shells where they otherwise might go unscathed but there's definitely something to be said for limited consumption of certain forms of enter- (or edu-) tainment.

Rarely do you hear anyone having a problem with reading skills if they spend excessive amounts of time in front of a Hardy Boys book. (Social skills maybe…)

Devote a little bit to everything…develop a sense of being well rounded. We live in a technological dependent environment, that is hard to ignore! However, that never meant that our “majority” indulgence has to deviate from old traditions.My family and I always find reasonable grounds about our daily activities.

The current financial issues are not helping our dependence on these “distracters”.Like I said before, we need a balance to find time for meditation. I think we all are not that far gone into the deep ends –on a personal level, you should look inside your own home to see what you consider acceptable and make a change and then expect the world to echo it if it deems it to be mandatory.

thanks for a great read

All I'm saying is that every generation has this same apprehension that the new generation is going to be somehow broken or spoiled or made stupider or meaner because of new technology and media. If that were true, if young people were really taking to heart all the awful and self-centered things they see online or on TV, then why aren't they also, in equal measure, taking to heart the good and charitable things they are exposed to on the same mediums? No one seems to be scared of a child stumbling across Danny Brown's blog, for example, and suddenly getting the urge to donate to the Red Cross.

It is very easy to count ourselves among the last “solid” generation, but I have faith that the next generation is going to be smarter, more well-rounded, and better able to deal with the world than we are. If you take away all that new technology and bar children from media, then we've done nothing but move backward.