Kill Your Television Trivia Quiz

Answer: Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

The study, led by Dimitri Christakis, looked at children 7 years old and above, and found that each hour of TV watched per day from ages 1-3 increased the risk of ADHD by 10% over the average at age 7. It didn't matter what programs the children were watching; all had the same effect.

The most frightening result of this study was that TV watching actually "rewires" the brains of children, by speeding up the pace of their perceptions, so that they expect everything to move fast and last only a short time, like a TV scene. Due to this study and others, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under age 2 watch no TV at all.

Answer: That emotional and cognitive support helped keep kids from being bullies, but television watching overrode this help.

The study found that for every 4 hours that a 4 year old watched television, the future probability of bullying behavior grew by 25%.

Answer: Alcohol

A 1982 report from the Surgeon General of the US found that alcohol was consumed far more often than every other beverage- about 60% of all drinks seen- with tea/coffee far behind at about 30%.A 1990 study found that network TV showed about 8 alcoholic beverages per hour, that even the "good guys" drank heavily, and that the average teen has seen over 100,000 commercials touting booze.

Answer: Violent programs on television lead to aggressive behavior by children and teenagers who watch those programs.

Their position can be found on their website.

In brief, they state that children who watch violence on TV become desensitized to real violence, become fearful of the real world, and are more apt to commit violent acts against others.

Answer: Brand names

The toddlers could recognize an average of 8 out of 12 brand names presented to them. The more TV that they had watched, the more brands they could recognize. The researchers pointed to the Teletubbies as the vanguard of the "mass marketing to toddlers" idea.

Answer: William Howard Taft

Postman was convinced that TV blunts our ability to judge a person not by appearance, but by words and actions. The cardboard characters of TV shows look perfect, even as they spew nonsense. By watching TV, we lose our ability to think critically.

Answer: 14 minutes

Time spent watching TV is, obviously, not time spent in activities that can truly engage the brain and body such as reading or interacting with friends.

Answer: Yes

For example, Dr. Thomas Robinson studied schoolchildren in San Jose, CA. He divided the kids into two groups- one kept on watching TV as before; the other went through a 6-month program to decrease TV watching. He found that children who reduced their TV watching by 25% over the course of the study were 25% less likely to be reported as aggressive, while those who continued to watch as much TV as before had no change in aggression levels..

Answer: selling audiences to advertisers

Television exists as a medium to sell products. Essentially, it's all commercials. Your favorite show exists to mesmerize you while you listen to product spiels and view products onscreen. Without advertisers, there would be no TV (even PBS has those "sponsor announcements.)

Answer: Smoking

The study found that the more TV teens watched, the more likely they were to begin smoking. The researchers were especially concerned with the positive portrayal of smoking in music videos. Another study found rap music videos to be the biggest offenders in this area.