Similarly, when a child looks through a picture book, the story can be derived with a little effort. But with television, the imaginative element is largely stripped away, leaving a slack-jawed mind completely immersed in what it is being fed. Little effort is made by the viewer. All else fades in importance. The mind is left with an experience as unforgettable as a wilderness hike or a deep-sea dive.
TV provides total immersion.
The special danger to children is that repeated immersions in this powerful element will leave equally powerful memories in their fragile minds, and those memories can have a bad effect on their thinking and behavior. The effect of TV does not end here. One does not simply watch TV and walk away unchanged. After watching a session of TV, the mind is changed. When I see a movie, scenes go through my head for days and days thereafter.