BRAIN DRAIN

Study: TV Can Help Kids’ Behavior

Content matters, not quantity.

Get ready to show those kids some Sesame Street. A wide-reaching study released Monday proved that television can improve children’s behavior—but increased television viewing leads to an increase in criminal behavior. Confused? That’s because the study shows that the content of what kids are watching makes a difference: if they are watching aggressive and violent shows, then they are more likely to exhibit those tendencies. But if they watched the same amount of television and instead watched shows that promoted healthy social interactions, their behavior improved. The study looked at 565 families with children ages 3 to 5.