TV can ruin childhood, claims Yorkshire-born author Martin Large whose new book urges families to switch off their TV set and do something less boring. MAXINE GORDON reports.

CAN you imagine a world without television? For most of us, the prospect of life without our regular fix of Coronation Street, Casualty or Changing Rooms is too grim to contemplate. After all, what would we do with all that free time? Heaven forfend we might have to talk to each other or play happy families.

What would the kids say? A shocking study last week revealed addicts who already feel they can't live without the box.

The report likened the TV to a lightbulb which is switched on from morning until bedtime and is on in the background even when children are doing their homework.

On average, children between four and 15 spend two hours and 23 minutes a day watching TV - an hour and 11 minutes less than adults.

Kids in homes with multi-channel TV watch four more hours a week than those who have the five terrestrial channels.

And three quarters of children between five and 17 have a TV in their bedroom.

When you include the time children spend on the Internet or playing computer games, there are not many free hours in the day left to follow the traditional pursuits of childhood such as riding bikes or playing in the park, let alone the chance to get lost in a good book.

Yorkshire-born author Martin Large is so concerned about TV's harmful effects on children that he has published a book examining the evidence and offering parents helpful strategies on how to wean their offspring off their regular telly fixes.

The father of four will also be hosting a seminar in York next week, where he will be discussing the issues and problems surrounding children, computers and TV with parents.

In his new book, Set Free Childhood, Martin, 54, backs the cause for a ban on TV advertising to children and says the early years should be declared a commercial-free zone.

He says: "All forms of advertising directed at children of 12 and under should be banned, as the only way to stop advertiser-driven pester-power.

"Removing advertising directed at children will stop a huge cause of stress on families, benefit children's health and save parents a lot of money."

He says the estimated five hours a day children spend watching TV and using computers adds up to a public health disaster, resulting in record levels of learning difficulties, eating disorders, obesity, sleep problems, language delay, aggressive behaviour and anxiety in children.

"As many as 20 per cent of children have learning difficulties," says Martin, a former teacher who now lectures in behavioural sciences at the University of Gloucestershire.

"Parents of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) found that when they restricted the use of TV there was an increase in their child's ability to focus on other activities and play.

"One teacher of seven year olds asked parents to switch off the TV for one week and found concentration and learning rocketed."

Even for babies and toddlers, growing up with the likes of the Tweenies and Teletubbies, TV can have worrying effects, he says.

"Language is hardwired and TV can undermine the learning of language as babies and toddlers screen out the human voice," he says.

"The Teletubbies are very endearing but there is a huge commercial push and it is really one long product placement."

He warns that using TV and videos as a substitute for play can result in children losing the ability to occupy themselves.

"You are not your child's entertainment manager," he asserts. "If you put out toys and books, perhaps a dressing up box or a Wendy house, your three-or four-year-old will play with these and when they get bored move on to another activity."

He should know. As the father of two sons and two daughters, aged between 19 and 30, none was allowed to watch TV before the age of seven and then only limited telly between 10 and 12.

"By the time they were teenagers they were so bored with TV they only watched the programmes they actually liked such as The Simpsons," says Martin, who admits to watching the box selectively.

"Football, films, Rory Bremner," he says, reeling off his must-sees.

Martin's book ties in with a growing climate of concern about the changing nature of childhood.

Parents' rising fears about paedophilia in tandem with the increase in traffic have combined to keep children cocooned indoors, with their electronic friends for company.

Martin, whose father was a hill farmer and who was brought up in Bishopdale, says it is time to "reclaim the streets" and let children have a childhood again.

"This is where the debate gets political," he says. "We should have safe neighbourhoods, designed around children's needs like they do in Scandinavia and Germany. We don't live in a very family-friendly country."

He says the National Family and Parenting Institute is much concerned with the issue of creating a family-friendly Britain.

And support is also growing for the move by MP Deborah Shipley to ban advertising to the under-fives.

She has already won the support of 100 fellow MPs for her Early Day Motion to Parliament. Not surprisingly, Martin supports this move but would like it extended to the under-12s.

Also on his wish list are the removal of TVs from children's bedrooms and for families to discover the pleasures of spending time together, playing, singing, reading and doing outside activities.

He suggests switching off the TV for a week to see how you get on.

"Just throw a blanket over the box," he suggests.

What happens next is up to you.

Here are Martin's top five tips for limiting the use of the TV, video and computers at home

1. Make all electronic media off-limits until your child is seven

(or whenever you decide to set the age limit)

2. No electronic media on school days

3. Limit your family to one TV/video set in the living room, in a cabinet or under a cloth. Keep the PC in a family room too

4. Allow children to pre-select specific programmes or games and set a time limit. Switch off when time is up

5. Balance PC and TV use with physical exercise: one hour of TV equals two hours outdoors

Set Free Childhood, by Martin Large, is published by Hawthorn Press price £10.99

Martin will be giving a talk at York Steiner School, Danesmead, Fulford Cross, York, on Wednesday June 25 from 7.30pm. Entry is free, but a donation is welcome

Updated: 10:52 Tuesday, June 17, 2003