TV - An idiot box?!

No way! According to my six year old niece Shreya. This evening she seemed to be in a real good mood while I was helping her solve some puzzles in Young World in The Hindu. She was pretty much in listening mode so I made an attempt trying to tell her to cut down on TV. Like other kids of her age she's terribly addicted to kids' channels. Coz of this, she sometimes get shouted at by all of us. Also, today's newpaper carried a story called 'Why children should stay clear of the idiot box?' Taking a cue from this story, I hoped my effort in explaining the ill-effects of TV would help in weaning her away, earnestly.

I began by telling Shreya how when we were kids there were hardly any programs on TV especially for kids, how we would spend time playing outside, or going to the library, listening to music, how my father had once put the TV set on the loft while our exams were approaching and so on. She listened to me intently, then I told her someone who watches TV all the time is called a couch potato and why TV is called an idiot box.

The moment she heard me saying idiot box, she immediately retorted "...how could it be an idiot, it makes your brain smart, it tells you about places and animals, and you watch so much news, you learn so much....", she went on defending the TV programs. I tried my best to tell her that these are good programs but she should not watch all that is shown indiscriminately, I happened to mention some Japanese serials, that show a lot of violence etc....pat came her reply: my karate teacher speaks Japanese, I'm learning karate, it's from Japan, it is very good...."

I had no words for her, I started wondering is TV really an idiot box, may not be, it all depends on the kind of channels you watch!