Plug-in Drug: Television, Computers, and Family Life » (Twenty Fifth Anniversary Edition)

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.

This is the new edition of a book criticizing the effects of television on children, their schooling, and family relationships. The author argues that pretty much nothing has changed since the book was first published in 1977. Expanding her analysis to other electronic media, she suggests that many of the same problems are associated with the use of other electronic media. In chapters new to this edition, she discusses computers in the classrooms; video games, VCRS, and other electronic playthings. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Library Journal

After 25 years, Winn (Children Without Childhood) has completely revised and updated her landmark study of the influence of television on children and family life by incorporating findings based on recent research and investigating the impact of the home computer, the VCR, and the video game terminal. She has also shifted the focus from the TV programs children watch to the negative effects of television on children's play, imagination, and school achievement. Although Winn pinpoints many key shortcomings of television, this study is not argumentative; Winn instead aims to stress the quality of family life without television, to show educators and parents how to control the medium, and to offer practical suggestions on how to improve family life not dependent on television. This refreshingly candid and inviting study is highly recommended for both public and academic libraries. Leroy Hommerding, Fort Myers Beach P.L. Dist., FL Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.