Section ALast spring, my husband and I loaded our three children into the car and drove of

Section A

Last spring, my husband and I loaded our three children into the car and drove off to see friends in the United States. Over the course of a week, we visited half a dozen households, each with children of its own. (76) And I found myself struck, again and again, by the frequency with which we modern parents use television to silence young children.

Get a couple of families together, and when noise from the kids rises too much, on goes the video and all is gratifying silence until the credits roll. (77) It' s like throwing a blanket over a noisy parrot' s cage; With one motion, the parrot' s stimulating surroundings vanish and its squawking instantly subsides. Hit the "play" button and the same thing happens. Children might be wrestling or running around, but let that mesmerizing box light up and they' 11 stop to stare at the screen. Nearby, the adults smile as the caterwauling ceases: " Phew! That' s better.

The video has become a member of every family I know. Need to finish a project on a Sunday afternoon？ Popping a video buys you an hour or two. Often my children go to play in someone' s basement room and a video is on from the time they arrive until they leave.

Guilty as I am myself. I find promiscuous use of this sedative disquieting.

Children don’t stand a chance against videos. (78) No matter how imaginative or independent they may be or how much they may like playing with visiting friends, they cannot escape the stupefying effects of the box.

(79) Child-development expert Paul Smith attributes this to the brain' s " orienting response, " a reaction discovered by Parlor early in the last century. "We humans are programmed to look at abrupt changes in our Visual field. " she writes. " It' s part of our survival mechanism. The colorful, quick images on TV are difficult to resist.

(80) Years ago. I read in a newspaper about a study that found if people can choose between watching a lecturer behind a podium and a video projection of that same lecturer, they' 11 gaze at the screen. The TV trumps real life every time.

(46)