You know, I'm in a definite minority on this. My kids didn't have TV in their bedroom until they were in their teens, and whenever they watched a PG or R rated movie, I sat in the room and watched it with them. I figured I couldn't keep them from watching what was out there, but I could sure as hell see they got an adult perspective on what they saw.

This doctor says there's no doubt TV has an effect on children:

Although Nieman says the form will take just a few minutes to fill out, if pediatricians are in a rush he urges them to ask just three questions:

Do you watch TV with your children?

Does your child have a TV set in his or her room?

Do you eat dinner in front of the TV set?

The message about the dangers of media has been slow to get out, said Nieman.

"I talk to (patients) about the TV in the kids' bedroom and the mom looks at me as if I'm from Mars."

There are many examples of good TV shows, said Nieman, who agrees the scientific connection between media and childhood behaviour and health is inconsistent. In some cases, there is plenty of proof, he said. For example, two things are known to reduce the chance a child will be obese -- breast feeding and less time watching TV.

Nieman also points to a large-scale study published in Science Magazine in 2002, where researchers found teenagers who watched more than an hour of TV per day were more likely to be violent as adults. In particular, those between 14 and 16 years of age who watched more than three hours a day were about five times more likely to be violent adults compared with those who watched less than an hour.

The scientists had followed 707 families in upstate New York since 1975 and eliminated factors such as family income and education and history of violence.

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