Attention

Childhood TV viewing can cause teenage problems:

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Watching television more than two hours a day early in life can lead to attention problems later in adolescence, according to a study released on Tuesday.

Television rots your brains, kids.

I remember religiously waking up every Saturday morning, without fail, to turn on the TV so I could catch the Saturday cartoons. The sun could hardly be described as "risen," just yet. The TV stations wouldn't even have begun airing anything, not even their glorious cartoons, and not for a good hour or so. I'd turn on the TV and gaze at static and imagine I could see a drama unfolding in the flickering nothingness. Then when the cartoons started I'd sit there from dawn till three in the afternoon. After the colours and noises had stopped coming and real people took over the airwaves, I'd switch off the TV with the immense satisfaction of having spent at least six hours in blissful oblivion.

This was my Saturday ritual for many, many years. I think it'd be safe to assume that had my parents brought Astro into our home I would have become a certified couch potato. And I might have serious attention issues today. Thank God local TV stations only splurge on cartoons for hours during the weekend. But hey, I'm seventeen and I'm all fine now. I don't really watch cartoons anymore. It's safe to get Astro now, dad.