In the July issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, researchers report that children who watch TV, particularly if they have a TV in their bedroom, get lower scores on tests than do their counterparts who have access to a computer. Children who had access to a computer scored higher than the average.

The reasons for this outcome were not clear, the researchers said.

Well, duh. TV is a passive, mind-numbing, Least Common Denominator mind zombification program. All you have to do is sit there and veg and absorb the bigotry of your generation.

Computer use, on the other hand, requires that you be able to read, and she/he who reads is more likely to be using other parts of her/his brain as well. At the very least, it is an active enterprise, requring at least some effort and choice on the part of the user.

What's to understand?

Of course, if you say the reasons are not understood, you pave the way for another multi-thousand-dollar study grant. Silly me. How naive I can be.