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TV during the first year -- effects?
To start out, I think the whole "ADD" and "ADHD" phenomenon is a
little hoaky. I'm not a Scientologist -- that is to say, I believe that
our brains control our emotions and our brains are controlled by
chemicals -- but I also think most people want to believe that a
miracle drug can fix the parts of their lives they don't like. We're
quick to believe we have a "condition"; it's so much more glamorous
than being just crazy.
But I digress ... My daughter is 10 months old, and she watches TV.
My wife and I have raked ourselves over the coals many times regarding
this issue. Is it bad for her to be exposed to the stimulation-overhaul
that is modern media? 15-second commercials, sound bytes, cameras that
switch angles every 5 seconds in an effort to keep us interested ... is
all this going to have a negative impact on her attention span?
I mean, I grew up with a television, too. I have great memories of
watching movies in my mom's BetaMax, and thanks to "Sesame Street" I
could read before I started kindergarten. But modern entertainment is
different. It seems each generation has less and less patience, and
Hollywood keeps trying to cram in more and more every second to keep
you glued to your seat.
It's obvious that television is having and will continue to have a
large impact on her development. We have a 32", and we keep it on for a
good portion of the day, watching our programming as well as her
occasional shows. As such, it's the third most important socializing
agent in her life, next to us. Is this a bad thing, though? This is the
society she's growing up in, the society she has to keep up with.
Shouldn't her mind be exposed to it, and aren't these beneficial
developments?
PBS and other educational TV
When I was a boy, shows like Seasame Street and Electric Company, and then later shows like NOVA really had a strong impression on me, and I believe really helped forge my interest in science and math. So I agree it matters what you let your kids watch, and how much. My son (now 22 months) wasn't really that interested in TV until we started taking him to daycare where I know they have the TV on a lot, and now when he sees a TV he often stares at it will a drugged, glazed look in his eyes. This is when TV can become the "cathode ray nipple". One trick is to make TV engaging, by watching with your child and asking them questions about what they see, etc.
TV is not inherently bad or dangerous, but can be addictive. As an adult I have found that when I watch more than 1-2 hours of TV at a time, it tends to increase my level of depression. I plan on limiting my kids to no more than 1 hour a day (once they are old enough to want to watch), and suggesting a god mix of education vs. pure entertainment.
everything in moderation?
My wife is a Wheel of Fortune fanatic and so we watch it almost every day. Our 23-month tot LOVES watching it, claps when the audience claps, and tries to say the letters being called out. After dinner when I say "time for Wheel of Fortune", he yells "yay!"
I'm with ya'll in that TV ain't necessarily bad in small dosages. It can provide another way to interact with your child (i.e. "did you see LeBron bounce the basketball really fast? can you say "pick and roll?"), and it can be very educational (i.e. "look at that penguin!"). But I think it's all in moderation. It can't be hours and hours of just sitting the tot in front of the TV - at that point, I have to question whether their brains are being both overstimulated and underutilized at the same time.
I also do worry about the pervasiveness of advertising everywhere we go, but again, it's probably just a balance thing. I've heard of some parents who mute the commercials to talk to their kid about what they just saw. seems like a good idea, but I haven't got there yet.
I think we all probably know some parents who have a "no TV" rule, and obviously I respect that as well, as long as that time is being put to good use in some other way, too.
Depends on what they watch
I think that having the TV on is definitely beneficial as long as you have it on something educational and uplifting. Having the tv on just as noise for a distraction for the young ones certainly doesn't help, however, having it on something educational like Sesame Street or PBS, can be alright. My boys both watch tv in the mornings as I am getting things ready for the day and they can point out different things in the world that relate to the shows. I also spend time interacting with them and the television by asking them questions about what they are watching, or by having them tell me what they are learning. I think overuse of the tv can be a problem too though, because when it is sunny and nice outside, they need to be outside enjoying the weather and getting a dose of real-life!
Balance
My wife and I were worried as well about the over stimulating effects of tv. For that reason we don't have it hooked up to cable or any other thing of the sort. My wife is a stay at home mom and she will put in Baby Einstein or similar when she needs to get things done (like showering, etc). Our son is now 3 and he still watches 30 minutes a day of 'tv'. I don't think tv is evil - just what we allow our children and ourselves to watch. We've noticed a different spirit in our home since we've cut down on the amount of time we spend watching movies and such.
We really want our children to enjoy reading so we spend a lot of time reading to them and they see us reading our own books a lot. Be the kind of person you want your child to be. It doesn't do any good to tell them what to do because they'll only do what we show them what to do, and that is done with our daily lives.
www.tylermitchell.com
You have to live like no one else.
Dirty word
My son is 10 months old.
I always felt very dirty when a friend of ours who had kids (before we did ) refered to the TV as a "baby sitter".
I promised I wouldnt let it come to that.
My wife stays home part time and i stay home the other part. It is HARD entertaining this child without a break, but we do it.
There is too much negative energy on TV.
Now he is 10 months and will glance at the TV if we are watching it, bark if he sees a dog, and move on to playing with his toys.
I assume it just comes down to a child; good or bad.
At the same time, I often wondered what the difference was in a child watching the window of a car as we ride along and watching the TV.
In any case, I will never refer to my TV as a babysitter.
Since we have had him we watch less TV now as it is. There is too much joy in the house. And I dont want to look back at his first year and think of how much TV we/he watched.
When I was a stay at home
When I was a stay at home mom for the first two years of the little guy's life, television was my LIFE SAVER. It was the only way I could ever take a shower, unload groceries, or make meals without having someone screaming his head off the entire time. I had him watch "educational" stuff - Baby Einstein, Playhouse Disney, Sprout. I still felt guilty, but I had no help from anyone else. Literally, I was on my own. No family offered help, I had no friends, and my husband worked so much overtime that we was gone before we woke up and home after we went to bed for EIGHTEEN MONTHS straight. Sometimes the sounds from the television were the only complete sentences I heard that didn't come out of my own mouth for the entire week.
And he's five now, smart as can be, still watching television.
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