What are your kids watching? A back-to-school TV quiz for parents.

• Position: Television - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

America's kids are heading back to school, but year round they devote more time to watching television than they spend in class. As children across the country get ready for a new academic year, Jerold M. Starr, professor of sociology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, and executive director of Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting, has prepared the first exam. It's for parents, and it's about TV. "Schools are under a lot of pressure to prepare kids for work, family life, and citizenship," he says. "Yet, kids devote much more time to TV than they do the classroom. What are they watching, and who determines what they see? Parents don't really know." Now, he maintains, is the time for parents to find out and fight to take back the airwaves.

Starr challenges parents to take the following quiz to determine television's impact on their offspring:

QUESTIONS 1. How much TV does the average child watch each week? a. 32 hours b. 28 hours c. 17 hours d. 12 hours 2. Over the course of the year, how much more time do children spend watching TV than in the classroom? a. 30% b. 40% c. 50% d. 60% 3. How many TV commercials does the average child see in a year? a. 30,000 b. 20,000 c. 10,000 d. 5,000 4. What percentage of Saturday morning TV ads is for sugary cereals, candy bars, salty canned foods, fatty foods, and other junk food? a. 90% b. 75% c. 60% d. 45% 5. What percentage of Americans would like to make children's television program "commercial free"? a. 85% b. 70% c. 55% d. 40% 6. According to various child development specialists, how old is the average youngster when he or she is able to understand that the purpose of advertising is to sell a product? a. 2-3 years old b. 4-5 c. 6-8 d. 9-10 7. How many commercials are broadcast on U.S. TV networks each week? a. 15,000 b. 6,000 c. 3.000 d. 1,000 8. In the last 10 years, the number of...