Meet Teresa Orange and Louise O'Flynn, two women with a plan to save society -- or at least to save children from too much television.
For them it amounts to the same thing.
The former media executives -- Orange worked as a children's researcher at an advertising agency and O'Flynn was a public relations director for the UK lottery operator Camelot -- are on a mission to stop British youth turning into a generation of slack- jawed couch potatoes. Their book, The Media Diet For Kids, has sparked a debate even before it has hit the shops.
The premise behind the book is simple: children are spending too long in front of the television, which is storing up a host of attendant ills, ranging from depression to obesity to violent behavior.
The pair argue that parents should restrict children to two hours a day of television or Internet, not easy given that the average child watches 53 hours a week, up from 38 hours a decade ago.
"The American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that children should watch no more than two hours of television a day," the book states. "It's low enough to protect children. But it's too high enough to stop kids benefiting from everything the modern media world has to offer."
The authors originally compiled diaries revealing how much time their own children spent in front of the small screen.
"People are almost in self-denial about how much they use the screen for kids," Orange says. "We were shocked when we realized the amount of time our kids ended up watching television."
"We went through different phases with the book. It started off as a kind of health guide to the dangers of screen bingeing," O'Flynn says. "Then we realized we needed to provide the solutions as well."
"The first bit is the shock horror and the second part is what they can do about it," she says.
Having conducted group interviews with parents and children, Orange and O'Flynn unearthed a welter of advice on how to break the link between the small screen and children.
"It was like being in Alcoholics Anonymous. The screen is one of the hardest things for parents to control. Getting that right balance is a desperately hot issue," Orange says.
With 19 dedicated children's channels in the UK and a host of Internet sites, today's young media consumer is spoilt for choice.
But this brings a new set of problems.
"Yes, we're in the midst of a media revolution. Every one wants to gobble it up, but after a revolution there has to be a settling in to a new phase. The balance has got out of control," Orange says.
Alarming information leaps off the pages: the Washington University study suggesting children suffer attention problems if they are exposed to television during early childhood; the research which finds men who watch more than 21 hours of TV a week double their risk of diabetes; the fact that, by the age of 18, the average child in the US has witnessed 200,000 acts of violence on TV.
"We're not trying to say you've got to do it all. People can pick and choose. There's a lot of talk about people being media savvy, but what does it really mean? This book helps you become a media planner," Orange says.
One particular area of concern is on-line meeting places, such as those provided by Microsoft Network, MSN.
"In some homes it has become an enormous drain on kids' time. It's easy for it to become an obsession -- kids like to feel part of the crowd -- and if you know your friends are chatting online it's hard not to join them," the book suggests.
Research undertaken for the book reveals young girls in particular spending up to five hours a night using MSN.
The pair suggest parents stick to seven "Golden Rules" when it comes to restricting children's media consumption (see factbox). Fundamental to the approach are rationing and the idea that children should always ask permission before accessing media. By following these golden rules, parents can protect their children from a host of media-induced ills.
Is your child prone to impulsive outbursts? It might be a result of bottled-up energy from too long in front of the screen. Does he or she always turn to adults to be entertained? The television hinders a child's ability to play imaginatively. Are they depressed or suffering from low self-esteem?
"Long periods in front of the screen lead to frustration," the book observes.
"Being firm takes time and energy. A lot of children get away with what they want," Orange concedes.
But the pair argue the risks of raising a generation of children given unlimited access to the media are enormous. For a start, it would spawn a generation unable to comprehend life unless it is through the prism of the media.
"Children think if you've not been a Big Brother contestant life isn't worth living," O'Flynn says.
Golden rules
1. Parents should always stay in control of TV and computer use.
2. Children should only watch TV or play on computers for short lengths of time.
3. Don't allow TVs into bedrooms.
4. Watching TV during meals should be a treat, not the norm.
5. Limit TV or computer time to early in the morning if possible.
6. Don't allow any screen activity in the run-up to -- or after -- bedtime.
7. Create periods of time without the computer or TV.
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