The Plug-In Drug: Television, Computers and Family Life

In The Plug-In Drug, Marie Winn demonstrates "with devastating persuasiveness" (The Washington Post) that television has a negative impact on child development, school achievement, and family life. But rather than focusing on program improvement as a solution, Winn proposes that the problem lies within the seductive act of TV watching itself. Extensive TV watching alters children's relations with the real world, depriving them of far more valuable real life experiences, especially playing and reading. Ever sympathetic to parents' need for relief, Winn proposes ways to control this addictive medium and live with it successfully. This 25th anniversary edition addresses the variety of new electronic media that have supplemented television in the home and increased children's bondage to screen experiences. It includes new sections on:

* Computers in the classroom
* Computer and video games
* The VCR
* The V-Chip and other control devices
* TV programming for babies
* Television and physical health

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An expanded and updated edition of groundbreaking study details the ways in which television, computers, video games, and other modern electronic media can affect a child's behavior, intelligence, and ability to communicate. Original.

Marie Winn has written thirteen books, among them Children Without Childhood, Unplugging the Plug-In Drug, and Red-Tails in Love. She currently writes a column about nature for the Wall Street Journal. She has two grown children and four grandchildren who are growing up without television.

After 25 years, Winn (Children Without Childhood) has completely revised and updated her landmark study of the influence of television on children and family life by incorporating findings based on recent research and investigating the impact of the home computer, the VCR, and the video game terminal. She has also shifted the focus from the TV programs children watch to the negative effects of television on children's play, imagination, and school achievement. Although Winn pinpoints many key shortcomings of television, this study is not argumentative; Winn instead aims to stress the quality of family life without television, to show educators and parents how to control the medium, and to offer practical suggestions on how to improve family life not dependent on television. This refreshingly candid and inviting study is highly recommended for both public and academic libraries. Leroy Hommerding, Fort Myers Beach P.L. Dist., FL Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.