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Why Couch Potatoes Can't Read

The latest reading scores are in: America's fourth graders haven't improved in spite of a decade of concentrated effort. Since the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released this gloomy news, teachers, teachers' colleges, and public schools have been blamed. But the problem with our kids' reading skills isn't solely or even primarily the fault of educators. Our kids can't read because they are not reading. Instead, they are plopped in front of TVs and video games.

Kids' screen time, not counting computer use, is a whopping average of thirty-two hours every week. Children are watching less TV, but the slight decrease from 28 to 25 hours has been more than offset by the seven hours an average child plays video games. The average kid has the equivalent of a full time job as a couch potato. We know this sedentary lifestyle is behind an epidemic of childhood obesity and Type II Diabetes. Now the NAEP reports couch potatoes can't read either.

TV and video games offer instant rewards -- no prerequisites required; no effort needed. Reading, on the other hand, requires delayed gratification. It takes four to five years to master the skills. Heavy TV watching or video game playing reinforces the pattern of instant gratification -- a dangerous situation for kids who find learning to read difficult. For them, watching TV or playing video games becomes the path of least resistance. Faced with choosing the frustration of reading or the instant kick from video games, the more enjoyable choice wins out.

When these kids are pushed by teachers to work on reading they become more frustrated because they've missed the reading practice they need and they've come to expect the instant payoff of entertainment media. Not surprisingly, they are less willing to work for the rewards of reading.

The kids who work diligently at their reading skills begin to reap rewards. They enjoy reading a good story. As they get the rewards, they want to read more. And as they read more, their skills get even better. Unfortunately, the same cycle works in reverse.

Research by the National Institute on Media and the Family shows that kids with TVs in their bedrooms watch an extra five and a half hours every week and don't do as well in school. The NAEP findings show more than half of American kids now have TVs or video games in their bedrooms and over a third of the poor readers watch TV a whopping six hours a day. NAEP didn't even ask about video games.

There's obviously a long list of factors behind our kids' reading crisis, but real progress won't happen if we continue to ignore the fact that couch potatoes can't read.
Let's start paying more attention to how kids are spending their time when they're not in the classroom

David Walsh, Ph.D. is the president and founder of the National Institute on Media and the Family (www.mediafamily.org). He has written seven books and is a frequent guest on national radio and television.