Tots and TV: an endless debate with no answers.

Today, with the Internet as ubiquitous as it is, it may no longer be a universal truth, but caregivers the world over have traditionally discovered that placing a tot in front of the tube can buy you anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours of peace. In Children and Television: A Global Perspective

(2007, Blackwell Publishing, 257 pages, U.S. $34.95), author Dafna Lemish offers up an overview of everything you ever wanted to know about children and television but were afraid to ask, delving into the topic from both American and international perspectives, to find out why little ones are oh so mesmerized by television--and whether parents should impose limits or just let it be.

Lemish, a Communications professor at the University of Tel Aviv, who has studied television for a quarter of a century, references more than 50 years of global literature on the subject of kids and television, as well as developmental psychological studies and sociological and cultural perspectives on the field, in order to craft a work that could very well be considered a definitive study of the subject. Her easily digestible writing style, as well as concluding sections of each chapters, which deftly wrap up the preceding pages, make Children palatable to even the casual reader who's only intermittently intrigued by the topic at hand.

She touches on a myriad ticklish issues that seem invariably connected to the topic of children and television: Is television good or bad for tots? Should advertising target the very young? Does ample viewing lead to better or worse grades in school? Each issue is dealt with in a separate section that explores the diverse arguments for and against a particular topic. And while an academic like Lemish refuses to take sides in any of the battles, most readers will quickly decide where they themselves stand--even if they've never before given a thought to whether or not kids react differently to televised violence if they grew up in an area marred by war. "A child living in Palestine, Chechnya, and Iraq may react completely differently to a scene depicting tanks and soldiers, than one living in New Zealand, Italy or Uruguay," wrote Lemish. She goes on to write that North American kids may react differently to news of terrorism in a post-9/11 world, and that South African children might be more attuned to programming about AIDS and kids living in orphanages than their counterparts in other countries.

Even seemingly obvious concerns are fascinating once Lemish gets ahold of them. Divergent parenting styles, for instance, lead some morns and dads to ban TV sets from their kids' rooms, while others feel that co-viewing programs will allow kids to ask questions and learn from what they see on the small screen. "Viewing television together with children has been demonstrated to be a desirable activity," wrote Lemish. "In doing so, parents are able to assist their children to understand the medium of television as well as its content, to encourage them to internalize messages selectively and critically, to intervene immediately when children are exposed to objectionable content in their opinion, to handle emotional reactions of children, and the like." She goes on to describe the many questions parents can ask their children post-viewing to help foster inquisitive minds and aid children to become political-minded and socially aware members of society.

Children also explores the very heated issue of educational television and whether or not it accomplishes its goals. Lemish devotes entire sections to both Sesame Street, an established leader that emphasizes repetition to drill information into tiny heads, and to Teletubbies, a relative newbie that's been making waves since it hit the airwaves due to its focus on non-verbal sounds. Critics of Teletubbies argue that the limited vocabulary reinforces baby-like talk in kids whose moldable minds can surely take in more. The pro-Teletubbies contingent finds that laughable, saying that it's "safe, relaxing and stimulates well-being and happiness among its adoring viewers." Sesame Street, on the other hand, has few detractors. The show, which has been around since 1969, is recognized by experts around the world as the cream of the educational television crop. The series has won more Emmy awards than any other show in the history of television, and is still watched regularly by more than 120 million children in 140 countries. Lemish cites several studies that found that viewing Sesame Street improved performance on specific skills, including letter and number recognition. The show now has more than 30 local versions on air in numerous territories, including Israel, China and Russia.

A main argument offered up by television's many enemies is that too much TV watching makes kids anti-social and violent. Lemish tackles the topic head-on, pointing out the media's knack for paying special attention to even infrequent instances of television leading to violent behavior. "Often, such reports dramatize the news event and target television as its sole cause," she wrote. She went on to say that by the age of 12 avid commercial television watchers will have been exposed to about 20,000 murders and about 100,000 other acts of violence. She's quick to point out that most people will see more violence on the small screen than they will in reality in their entire lives. Will children internalize the behaviors they see onscreen and imitate them when the opportunity arises? Perhaps. Or perhaps not. Lemish notes that a number of factors will contribute to the person the child eventually becomes, including parents, siblings, school, friends and community. Television might be a factor, but who's to say for sure? Lemish herself notes that she can't--and she's studied the implications of television longer than most people will ever even attempt.

Children and Television explores a touchy issue with aplomb. Lemish's detailed, example-heavy scenarios and her ability to look beyond the United States to a world of televised possibilities, makes her book a must-read both for students of television, as well as those who simply love to watch. Should children watch television? The book doesn't provide a conclusive answer, but any parent who truly wants to cultivate an opinion would be wise to read it. At least it'll give morns and dads something better to say than "because I said so" when their kids beg for the remote.