About your Kids: Do you hear what I hear?

Now that scientists from Northern England have officially documented the fact that men have more trouble hearing women's voices than other men's, I expect all the boys in my class to look at me and say, “What?”

Not that they don't already. More times than I care to calculate, students stare at me as if I were a television set. Their eyes glaze over and their mouths gape slightly as they slump in their desks waiting for me to change channels.

“What did she say?” one asks another.

I think it has little to do with the melodic complexity of my voice and a whole lot to do with TV. I require action. Televisions don't.

When was the last time you heard a TV tell your kids to turn to page 147 and answer questions one through 10?

Of course television is not the mother of all evils, but neither is it the mother. It's an inexpensive babysitter - I know from personal experience. But plopped before it day in and day out, week after week, year after year, kids forget how to think for themselves, listen and respond.

I have spoken to many ears that have forgotten how to listen. They hear, but they don't listen. There is a difference.

Researchers in the past year have reported on several studies that suggest too much TV hampers kids' academic skills.

Now there's a news flash.

One study went so far as to claim that simply having a TV set in a kid's bedroom can be linked to lower performance levels.

Researchers in a New Zealand study tracked 1,037 children for nearly 30 years in the first long-term follow-up that measured childhood viewing and educational achievement. Those who watched the most TV from ages 5 to 15 were least likely to graduate from high school or college by age 26, they said.

A third study, from University of Washington researchers, found that very young children who watched a lot of TV had diminished reading comprehension and other academic problems by the time they were 6 and 7.

None of the studies looked at content, so the argument for educational television is still on. The Discovery Channel, History Channel and Sesame Street may win a reprieve.

If going cold turkey on the tube is too traumatic for your youngsters, try what a colleague of mine did. She attached an automatic timer to the power cord of her son's TV. He is allotted a predetermined amount of television viewing and then the power goes off. Automatically. No arguments. And she's placed a large bookcase in front of the plug so he can't get to the timer.

If Christmas lists aren't floating around your home yet, it won't be long. First chance you get, grab the list and scratch out “TV.” When your kids insist that a television set in their room would prevent misplacement of your remote, arguments over what show to watch, or fights with their brother about who gets to play what video game - just say no.

Pass by the new Sony model this year. Instead, maybe the family could spend time gathered round the one you already have. Or maybe you could read stories to your children. Or better yet, they could read some to you.

Books make great Christmas gifts, you know. Timers not required.

Davalynn Spencer is a Tulare County public school teacher. Contact her at aboutyourkids@Hotmail.com