They also achieve at much higher levels. Most adults do what they must in order to get what they want, and kids are no different. Youngsters in these other countries know that if they want to get into university, it's not enough to squeak through high school. They must study hard and pass a demanding examination. As for kids who are going right from school to work, they know that the courses they have taken, the grades they have gotten and their success on examinations will determine the kind of job they get.
American kids see no good reason to turn off the TV and do their schoolwork.
A high school graduate who wants to go to college, and can swing it financially, will be able to find some school to accept him, no matter how little he knows and how poor his grades. It's about the same for youngsters who are going right to work. And the companies that do hire new graduates seldom ask for a transcript or care what kind of record a kid has. Too much television may lead to poor school performance, but we are not going to take care of the problem by locking up the TV sets. Doing so might induce a handful of kids to start paying attention to their schoolwork, but the rest will find other ways of occupying their time.