Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
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children with shoddy values,” said Mr. Lickona. Children learn kindness, honesty, and respect for others through human interactions. Television steals precious communication time from parents and children by reducing crucial dialogue, he believes.
Face-to-face communication with adults is especially important, the author noted, because through it much of children’s moral learning takes place and their character is formed. One second-grade teacher told Mr. Lickona that children who are deficient in basic manners and interaction skills tend to come from families that have the television on while they eat.
Television also presents negative moral models to children, he said. During prime-time programming, children are exposed to muggers, rapists, embezzlers and drug dealers whose actions affect children’s perceptions of what is normal human behavior.
A report summarizing more than 2,500 studies found “overwhelming evidence” that television increases children’s aggression. Mr. Lickona said, “Even if youngsters don’t copy the violence they see on the screen, watching it tends to produce a hohum attitude toward violent behavior.”
What can we do to keep television from dominating our family life and taking over as our children’s major teacher of morality? Mr. Lickona’s article suggests the following:
• Set a good example. Research shows that parents who watch little television tend to have children who watch less.
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