BRASS TACKS

A responsible group of educators and television executives could make good use of TV for sound educational purposes; only America's parents, meanwhile, can prevent the video giant from actually hurting their children. TV currently harms children:

(1) By taking them away from more worthwhile pursuits. (The average weekly time spent in viewing TV was 27 hours for students with home sets, according to a recent survey in Stamford, Conn.) These pursuits include homework, which suffers from TV competition, although some students report that they utilize advertisements and dull parts of the broadcasts for studying.

(2) By further destroying the conventional pattern of home life.

(3) By causing emotional and psychological problems in the children.

If parents can teach their children to discriminate in the selection of programs, these three problems stand a good chance of solution. At present, no unified effort, however, has been made to educate parents and make them aware of the responsibility that goes with buying a TV set. This awareness could come about through intelligent parent-teacher cooperation.

Meanwhile the nation's doctors and psychologists are becoming increasingly alarmed over the psychological effects of TV on children. The strain of waiting to see whether Tom Mix captures the bandits creates a dangerous state of anxiety in many youngsters.

What TV needs most is a sensible balance of different types of programs. This programming calls for more than merely conforming to survey ratings and the philosophy of giving the public "what it wants." Many children claim television has increased their interest in "outside events," but when these events consist almost exclusively of wrestling bouts, mysteries, and westerns, TV is still on the wrong track.

What constitutes a balanced diet of programs? No one seems to know yet. For this reason we are awaiting hopefully the results of a study being conducted by teachers at Burdick Jr. High School in Stamford, Conn., where last week's valuable poll was taken. These educators represent the first group to explore methodically the ways by which education can capitalize on the TV medium. They are pioneers, it is hoped, in a field that must continue to grow, to keep up with television's technical advances.