Mick Hartley

So it’s official:

The biggest-ever study of the harmful effects of TV and computer games on schoolchildren has revealed how long exposure to both produces individuals who are fatter, lazier and more stupid than those whose electronic leisure time is governed.

The research into the behaviour of 23,000 children aged ten to 15 was undertaken by the Criminalogical [sic] Institute of Hanover in Germany

“The results are truly alarming,” said Christian Pfeifer, the director of the institute. “Over-consumption of either makes them fat, lazy, stupid, ill, sad, unhealthy. TVs and computers literally steal meaningful time for play, sport and fun from their lives. In addition, brutal films or video games displace things learned at school or from parents from their memories.”

The research compared two cities – blue-collar Dortmund and wealthy Munich.

Individuals who are fatter, lazier and more stupid…there’s that old scientific objectivity again. I don’t know, I just get the tiniest feeling that perhaps the researchers got the result they were looking for. Middle-class kids are so much nicer, after all.