Vicky Rideout, Vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation and director of the Program for the Study of Entertainment Media and Health, points out:

• Today’s young people devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes to using entertainment media across a typical day. This adds up to more than 53 hours a week, the equivalent of a full-time job.
• About half (47%) of media heavy users (more than 16 hours a day) report getting Cs or lower in school, compared to almost a quarter (23%) of light users (less than three hours a day).
• Half of the kids say that when doing homework they usually multitask by using some other form of media at the same time.
• The average student’s homework to internet time is 16 minutes of homework to 1.5 hours of internet.

Although children with any media rules consume nearly three hours less media per day than those with no rules, only about three in ten young people say they have rules about how much time they can spend watching TV (28%) or playing video games (30%), and 36% say the same about using the computer. Child psychologist, Dr. Jennifer Hartstein recommends that parents disallow video chatting and TV watching while doing homework. For kids who don’t live by these limits, parents may choose to remove the offending media until the student is able to avoid distractions and make education the priority.

Another option offered by Rideout is for parents to use these findings to “look at what goes on in their own families … and talk about it.”

If NOVA doesn’t appeal, the PBS video website features other informative shows, including History Detectives and Nature. Have a budding chef on your hands? How about learning to cook with Julia Child? A passionate environmentalist? Check out some e2 episodes.

Videos can be browsed by topic or program 24-hours a day. Easy-to-use navigation allows watchers to quickly choose from a variety of educational subjects — a fun, relaxing way to learn, explore, and stay informed during the summer months and beyond.

Using a simple blackboard format, each video walks the viewer through example problems. Available math topics include basic arithmetic, pre-algebra, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, pre-calculus, calculus, probability, and differential equations.

Khan has also created videos on physics, SAT preparation, finance, and the credit crisis.  The SAT videos address all 432 problems in “The Official SAT Study Guide” by the College Board.

The Harvard- and MIT-educated Khan, an investment professional by day, started making math videos at night to help family and friends.  Word of his technique spread and now thousands of viewers from around the world depend on Khan’s one-man tutoring show.