First lady laments TV ‘addiction’

MOSCOW – In a Kremlin library thousands of miles from home, Laura Bush chided U.S. parents for letting their children watch too much television and pleaded with them to spend more time reading with and to their kids.

“American children, I’m afraid, are addicted to television,” she told the first ladies of Russia, Armenia and Bulgaria on Tuesday, citing studies that place average TV consumption in the United States at several hours a day.

Bush came to Moscow as the guest of Lyudmila Putin, the wife of the Russian president, who has organized a book festival focused on children’s literature. The festival, modeled after events Bush has put on for years, begins Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Russian first lady gathered Bush and their fellow first ladies, Bella Kocharian of Armenia and Zorka Purvanova of Bulgaria, for a round-table discussion on the relationship of books to family and education.

The round-table began with a viewing of a special exhibit of Russian children’s books, featuring manuscripts from as early as the 14th century. The women thumbed through old textbooks set on tables in an intimate circular room with intricate parquet floors, a balcony and shelves of glass-door cases filled with priceless treasures.

At the round-table, Bush nodded and smiled as she heard, through a translator, Putin moderate presentations from Russian librarians and scientists.

When Bush’s turn came, she told of her main mission as first lady: trying to spread the word that reading to children, starting when they are babies, not only helps them develop richer vocabularies but makes them feel loved.

“When you read with your child, you show them that reading is important, but you also show them they’re important – that they are so important to you that you will spend 20 minutes a day with your arm around them,” she said.

In that context, she termed TV-watching a big no-no.

“We’re always, everyone – librarians, teachers – are trying to inform parents about turning the television off,” said Bush, a former teacher and librarian. “Television watching is very passive and … reading is much better exercise for the brain.”

While speaking of the prevalence of libraries in America, in nearly every community and school, Bush also derided that school libraries are “not really well-funded.” And, she added, “A lot of times, the librarian is the first job that’s cut when schools face financial problems.”

Still, she said she believes reading is on the rise in the United States and gave Oprah Winfrey and her television book club much of the credit.