ABSTRACT
Despite the rise of computers and other modern electronic mediums, television is still the most time-consuming leisure activity in which children and young people engage. Recent estimates suggest there are three or more television sets in most Western homes and that children aged 8 to 17 years watch an average of just under 2 hours of television per day (Australian Communications and Media Authority, 2007). Television is, then, a major presence in school-aged children’s lives and its impact on achievement is important to understand. Hypotheses about the effects of television viewing on achievement take three forms: inhibiting (negative effects), facilitating (positive effects), and null hypotheses.
