The more television infants and toddlers watch, the more likely they are to have trouble paying attention and concentrating during their early school years, a study reports Monday.

Photo courtesy of Ian Chase It is hard to avoid television if you are a kid. People in the house are usually tuned in to TV - siblings as well as parents. In some homes, the television is perpetually "on" even without anyone watching.

There's been a lot of attention to a study from the University of VA. After 9 minutes of watching SpongeBob, 4-year old children's ability immediately afterwards to "pay attention, solve problems and moderate behavior" was significantly impaired compared to children who had watched a slower paced show or who had been drawing.

Two thirds of 10-year-olds have been given their own TVs and mobiles Research among 4,000 pupils in England has linked them to markedly lower scores in reading tests By Laura Clark Children with TVs in their bedrooms and their own mobile phones suffer significant falls in reading achievement, a major international study showed yesterday.

Sam E. Jones's image for: There is no getting around the fact that television has had an impact on the American family; just what that impact has been is a subject that has been debated ad nauseam ever since the first programs appeared on our national airwaves.

Television may seem like a good thing: kids can learn the alphabet and you can keep up with current events on the evening news. But how does TV affect kids?