A Machine of Influence

According to the 1990 Britannica Book of the Year, Americans watch, on an average, seven hours and two minutes of television every day. A more conservative estimate puts the figure at about two hours a day, but that would still amount to seven years of television in a lifetime!

Again, time is a critical factor. By the time the average American child graduates from high school, he has spent 17,000 hours in front of the TV compared to 11,000 hours in school. For many children, TV constitutes their main spare-time activity if not their main activity. The book The National PTA Talks to Parents: How to Get the Best Education for Your Child notes that half of all fifth-graders (ten-year-olds) spend four minutes a day reading at home, but 130 minutes watching TV.