ABSTRACT
This chapter considers whether children’s involvement with TV and screen technologies is linked to poorer performance in school. As with many debates of this kind, the evidence reveals a more complex picture than was first assumed. While there is evidence that children with heavier diets of screen consumption do less well at school, this is not an outcome that invariably follows how much viewing they do. There are other factors that can enter into the equation, not least the practices of children’s parents/carers, the kind of home environment in which they live, and the other activities in which they engage when not using screen technologies. Another factor that cannot be discounted is that TV and other video materials are used in schools and formal education systems as learning resources. Moreover, children’s viewing diet can vary greatly in terms of how much they watch educational or entertainment content in their normal viewing at home.
