Well, I read it, and understand it fairly well, though I still see it as anti-gaming or "indoor entertainment" oriented. No matter how the original source minces words the bottom line is it's another person saying "put down the controller, and go outside".
The problem I have with such articles is that they act like Video games are some malevolent, addictive force that hypnotizes and people and binds them to their office chairs. Even if someone was to somehow cut video games, television, etc.. out of people's lives, it wouldn't make people (especially children) go outside and get more vitamin D (or whatever is being griped about now).
Indoor entertainment is so big because people are indoors, and honestly the reason why they aren't outdoors more has to do with what a wasteland society has become in general. It's also not just an American issue, but a relatively global one all told.
It's like this, you've got a kid, but it's not like your going to seriously encourage him to go outside and play because of all the predators out there. Even if your not worried about predators, there are laws (mostly local, but some state) that exist to prevent kids from roaming neighborhoods unattended. The extension of the stereotypical crothedy old geezer telling kids to get off his lawn. In many places you have abandoned playgrounds which are really the ONLY places kids are permitted to gather, sort of like how nowadays things like dog parks are the only places you can let dogs roam without leashes.
Then of course there are things like adult supervision. Today we're looking at a 2-income society where both parents need to work to support a family. This means that there is no rested adult whose job it is to raise the children or watch them while they play. So while mommy and daddy are home from working themselves to the bone, the kid(s) can't go out and well... that makes the entertainment TV or Video games.
Even with adult supervision, what do you do if some creep in a clown costume drives up in a van and pulls your kid into the back of a van? Strictly speaking, not much. People are increasingly unarmed, and there are increasing levels of laws preventing people from intervening physically to stop someone. During home invasions, breaking and entering, etc.. laws are increasingly oriented towards "let the police sort it, when and if they happen to ever get involved" you'd be surprised what rights criminals have. I use the example of the clown costumed van-snatcher as an example because when I took Code Adam training it was an actual example pointing out what kind of shocking rights people have even when committing crimes (along with mentions of groups like NAMBLA and how their people have managed to make huge, legal issues out of things very much like that).
The basic bottom line is that kids are either unwanted outside, or it's simply too dangerous. Oftentimes both. On top of that you don't have parents around and functional that much anymore, and the whole issue of "latchkey kids" is growing... which are kids who come home to empty houses/apartments from school and lock themselves inside for safety.
When it comes to teens/young adults/adults the issue can be just as bad, because your dealing with a situation that when you work a lot of these dead end, pointless jobs (which other articles talk about having a msssive effect on people) the last thing they want to do is come home and go jogging or whatever. Instead they sit down in front of the TV, Computer, or whatever, and break open a drink to recharge from the day.
Want to solve these kinds of problems? You don't target the "entertainment boxes". That's an excuse, a sign of the bigger problems. You repeal laws preventing kids from going out to play, encourage personal armament, remove the rights of criminals (many of which can be quite ridiculous), increase police powers, and then of course adjust society so that there is less unemployment, with people able to support themselves on far less hours.... in other words the kinds of things society just isn't going to do with any kind of speed to adjust an issue in the hear and now. Targeting video games/TV/etc... gives Academics something to rail about to show 'they are doing something', and provides a scapegoat for politicians.
While unrelated, want to stop school shootings? Well the first step is to realize music/video games/TV/movies have nothing to do with it. The thing to realize is that the people doing this have sucky lives, and they are made to suck worse by other people. It's a bigger issue to resolve than people want to address, attacking entertainment media simply presents an illusion of doing something while avoiding addressing the giant elephant sitting on the middle of the table.
