I knew it would happen. We’ve been largely avoiding television with Will since his birth (except for some occasional weekend golf-watching with his dad). Now with a newborn in the house, a two-week break from pre-school, and a Georgia heat wave that’s got us cooped up inside almost all day long, I’m beginning to cave. Just this week, I started letting the poor kid watch 15 minutes of something a day (part of his Spanish-language “Muzzy” video, one of two Winnie the Pooh videos he 
loves, or the tail end of Sesame Street.) I guess at 15 minutes most moms would consider me a TV Nazi. After all, Will’s nearly a year past that 2-year-old birthday, at which point the American Academy of Pediatrics stops advising against any television-viewing for children.
But I love to watch Will at work in creative play, and when he’s lounging on the couch mesmerized by the television screen I start feeling little twinges of mama guilt. And I found that it was easier to do no television with Will then to work on limiting it.
If Will had his way he’d sit glued to the tube for over an hour. But that’s part of what made me give in: I don’t want to create such a television-starved kid that he thirsts for the stuff like it’s ice-cold lemonade in a long stretch of dessert. Or maybe that’s just an excuse.
In many ways, life with no television was simpler than life with 15 minutes a day. We had to go through a couple tantrums when I turned the television off early this week (I do warn him and wait for the end of a little segment so he’s not jolted out of the story). The past couple days, with some discussions in advance, he’s accepted the limit peacefully. I never suggest he watch TV, but he never fails to ask. And I’ll admit, that little 15-minutr break is nice.
It’s probably just a matter of time before we’re up to 30-minute daily doses (and while that doesn’t seem unreasonable I’m not looking forward to it either). But whatever I do, I want to keep Owen’s eyes off the TV entirely for a couple years if I can.
I know. Good luck, you’re thinking. But it never hurts to set lofty goals.
And studies like the one cited in this article (which was first spotted by Seattle mom April – see her comment on the August 6 post), are just fuel for the fight. (In summary the study of Baby Einstein, Brainy Baby and other videos for infants seems to indicate that video viewing can actually decrease language learning: “Every hour babies spent watching videos, they understood an average of six to eight fewer words than a baby who didn’t watch the programs… Babies who watched the videos scored 17 percent worse on language skills assessments than babies who didn’t.”)
The study doesn’t implicate toddler TV-viewing so much (the impact of the videos on 17- to 24-month-olds was neutral). And there are plenty of experts out there who come down on both sides of the fence when it comes to limited television viewing for older children.
Here’s a quick article by Atlanta mom Caroline Wilbert contemplating just a little TV time with her 2-year-old daughter. She talked with Susan Linn, instructor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the associate director of the media center at the Judge Baker Children’s Center in Boston and the author of “Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood.” Linn says it’s best to keep the TV off for the older kids too.
Still, if you’re like the 90-something-percent of parents out there who do let their children watch some television, I wouldn’t worry. You’re probably just a more relaxed, less obsessive and generally saner and more practical parent than me. And your kids will thank you for it.
I’m the product of a home with tight TV limits, and although I think that helped make me an avid reader, I’m also something of a pop-culture idiot because of it. So I know there are downsides too. I don’t recommend my own little 15-minute-a-day plan to anyone. I’m just trying to survive and compromise as a new mother of two.
What's your take on television for children?
2 comments:
I'm not for or against TV. I mostly see it as a tool for parents, and I don't mean that in a negative way, because it can be a very useful tool and as long as it's not over-used, it's enjoyable for the kids and not harmful. But, that's where I draw the line. I think the push toward "educational" programming for kids is kinda silly; sure, they might learn letters or numbers from a show, but they could also have learned that by looking through a book with Mom or pointing at signs in the car with Dad. I'm firmly in the middle--we have a TV, sometimes my kids watch too much of it and I'm not beating myself up over it, but at the same time I'm not going blow smoke up my own butt about it by telling myself they're learning a lot from it.
I have bonded with my older kids over some shows, though! Particularly old 80s sitcoms like Cosby, and shows like Man vs Wild on Discovery. I do think there are things my older kids have learned from TV that they otherwise wouldn't have. And it is nice to have some connection to pop culture through TV.
btw--I just realized we both have a Will and an Owen!
I am pretty much anti-TV but my girls have definitely seen their fair share of videos! Where we live, only the PBS stations come in and I would never pay to watch TV so it's very limited in our house. But in regards to the Baby Einsteins, Brainy Baby, etc videos, it's my understanding that the primary reason they do not help in language development is because words are presented alone and randomly, rather than in the sentence/thought format way in which we actually communicate. The author of the study actually said watching American Idol is better for young kids than Baby Einstein! I do think that there is a trend towards TV as a babysitter, and the negative results of that are clear - materialism, desensitivity to violence, reduced family time, the list goes on and on. It's hard to strike a balance, and even harder to sit with the kids and watch their programming when you could ACTUALLY get something done during daylight hours!
Post a Comment