usy working parents in the US are increasingly depending on electronic media to baby-sit for them. A study released by the Kaiser Family Foundation (www.kff.org) finds how parents are satisfied with the "educational benefits of television" and how it can teach "positive" behaviour. The results of the study entitled The Media Family: Electronic Media in the Lives of Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers, and Their Parents, show that on a typical day more than 80 per cent of children under the age of six use screen media for almost two hours a day. The surprising part is that about 60 per cent of babies, a year-old or younger watch screen media for more than an hour everyday.

It seems that the TV has come to acquire a focal position in the household, being present in the living room, dining room and bedroom. One-third of children under six in American households have a TV in their bedroom - with 19 per cent of these a year old or younger, 29 per cent aged 2 to 3 years, and 43 per cent aged 4 to 6 years. Parents justify this by saying that it keeps the other TV sets in the house free (55 per cent of the respondents); 39 per cent said they did it to keep the child occupied, to make him/her fall asleep (30 per cent) and as a reward for good behaviour (26 per cent). The report quotes a mother as saying, "Media makes life easier. We're all happier. He isn't throwing tantrums. I can get some work done."... more