"Seen as wasteful" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. Spending 6+ hours a day watching TV is seen as wasteful, heroin addiction is seen as wasteful, becoming a musician is seen as wasteful, dropping out of a law degree to start a company is seen as wasteful. The first two are different from the last two, though.
I think watching 6+ hours of TV a day isn't just seen as wasteful, it's seen as actively harmful, and therefore as falling under the moral and legal duty of care adults have to protect children. In contrast, a mentally sound retiree is an adult. Adults are allowed to hurt themselves.
For me, yeah. I probably spent about that long reading on most school days as a kid, including hiding books in my pencil case, walking the dog while reading, riding a bike while reading, reading on the bus, reading during recess and lunch, reading in front of the TV, reading on the toilet, reading when I was meant to be asleep, and reading during family dinners.
I absolutely should have stopped reading so much during family dinners, during classes I struggled in, when I was meant to be asleep, and during recess and lunch.
I think watching 6+ hours of TV a day isn't just seen as wasteful, it's seen as actively harmful, and therefore as falling under the moral and legal duty of care adults have to protect children. In contrast, a mentally sound retiree is an adult. Adults are allowed to hurt themselves.