Plug-in Drug : Television, Computers, and Family Life

In The Plug-In Drug, Marie Winn demonstrates "with devastating persuasiveness" (The Washington Post) that television has a negative impact on child development, school achievement, and family life. But rather than focusing on program improvement as a solution, Winn proposes that the problem lies within the seductive act of TV watching itself. Extensive TV watching alters children's relations with the real world, depriving them of far more valuable real life experiences, especially playing and reading. Ever sympathetic to parents' need for relief, Winn proposes ways to control this addictive medium and live with it successfully. This 25th anniversary edition addresses the variety of new electronic media that have supplemented television in the home and increased children's bondage to screen experiences. It includes new sections on: * Computers in the classroom * Computer and video games * The VCR * The V-Chip and other control devices * TV programming for babies * Television and physical health

Marie Winn has written thirteen books, among them Children Without Childhood, Unplugging the Plug-In Drug, and Red-Tails in Love. She currently writes a column about nature for the Wall Street Journal. She has two grown children and four grandchildren who are growing up without television.