TV=root of all childhood problems
and is the root of all childhood problems.
Children who watch TV will be less educated by the time they are in school, therefore will get bad grades.
ADD/ADHD, most likely caused by TV.
Obesity? You guessed it...the cause of TV.
Well, am I the ONLY one who doesn't think that having my child watch a little TV is going to cause them harm!?
Seriously now, I DO understand the importance of exercise and outdoor play, indoor imagination, book time, quiet time etc...
What I also understand is that TV has offered Logan a LOT in his short little life. He learned his ABC's with help from Mommy and Daddy AND a little help from Elmo and the gang.
He learned how to do some pretty cool exercise from watching Sportacus.
He's learned too many things to count from watch a bit here and there on this channel.
Maybe it is because we don't have cable (hmmm...maybe a root of our babysitter problems, ey?) and we don't see all the things lurking out there in cable world.
While Logan DOES watch TV, he also doesn't watch it every day. He runs, imagines, and READS...a LOT! At least 10-15 books are read a day to him. He has books on CD that he follows the story and turns the pages at the right time etc...
So, imagine my discomfort last night when I went to a work meeting and the topic turned to TV watching and children.
They now say that NO tv should be allowed for ANY child under the age of 3. It changes the way their brain works and the way they think.
This woman told the story of how she had her entire family over this weekend. After a long day of outings, her older nieces and nephews (4 and 5ish) wanted to turn on some TV and relax a bit. She forbid it. She said that her child (6 1/2 months) was not allowed to watch TV. She was feeding him in his highchair and thought that it might get him preoccupied and he would stop eating.
Later that night, when the baby was playing with his toys on the ground, they asked if they could watch a show (30 min show) that they watch at home. Again, the answer was no. There was no TV allowed in that house when her baby was awake.
I know another person like that also. She does not even allow her husband to watch TV at all when he gets home from work until after their son is in bed.
In my house, we have one TV in one livingroom and one TV in our bedroom.
We have 2 livingrooms. The main one off the kitchen has no TV. That is where we spend the majority of our day. When Dave gets home from work, we're in there until usually the kids go to bed, so it isn't an issue for us. But if Dave wanted to watch the news when he got home from work, I wouldn't FORBID him.
So, while I DO understand how SOME people go TV crazy, I do NOT see a problem with my child, or any child watching some TV. Hell, being a child is hard work! They play ALL day, and sometimes, really, they DO need a break. Being a MOM is hard work too! And sometimes, when Miles goes down for a nap, knowing that Logan will have a 30 minute movie in means just enough time for me to get something done (dinner started?) or relax right next to Logan and reenergize.
I don't think it is bad for Logan to get all excited to see what Bobis building today.
And I certainly don't think it is bad for him to learn about relationships based on some of his favorite shows.
Is TV the enemy?
Does YOUR child watch TV?
What do you think is too much?
*one little cool piece of information I learned from my meeting. In SOME states (Arizona is one of them) they look at the 3rd grade reading tests to know approximately how many beds they will need in state prisons by the time they are adults. Crazy, huh? Then, for inmates, if they learn how to read while in prison, they only have a 15% likelihood of returning to prison vs a number that I can't remember...like 60% or higher!*
posted by Jen at 8:31 AM
6 Comments:
I take these studies with a grain of salt myself. Lets see, i have a 9 year old honor student and guess what? she watched TV when she as young as 7 months. And my other kids watch TV just as young. Esp. in the summer here, not much else to do. Some days they will watch it for up to 3 hrs, yep, two movies. Some days they don't turn it on at all. And some days its xbox for 20-60 minutes.
But they also go out back every morning before it gets too hot, they color, play games, paint, play school and after dinner we go out front to ride bikes as long as its not too hot.
Everything in moderation .......
11:32 AM
Our tv is on pretty much all the time. Mainly just for background noise. Chip doesn't watch it all the time. I keep it on either Disney channel or Noggin or one of the 10 kid program channels we have. I figure it's educational tv and I know he is picking stuff up like a sponge. Yesterday he was speaking spanish with Dora .. so no I don't think tvs are bad. Oh and I didn't watch tv as a baby and I am ADHD and dh didn't watch tv as a baby and he is ADHD .. so odds are .. Chip doesn't have a chance. Since Skyla is a girl she might not have it (it's rarer in girls supposedly .. lucky me to be the oddball).
3:43 PM
The world is about BALANCE. of course if you watch ONLY tv and don't go outside or read a book you'll be pale and frail and dumb and you will become a mass murderer.
Liam loves tv. Already. You know what shuts him up when he's screaming at the top of his lungs? CSI...go figure.
But, we also read to him. Our house is all about tv and books. We watch a lot of tv (love that tivo) and we also read constantly. We read him several books a day, but he also sees us reading. We have a full library in our house and he already goes the county library with his dad, who checks out several books a week.
We also play outside and wrestle with the dogs and do all of those kinds of things, too.
One summer when we were kids, my mom thought the tv got to be too much, so she had it shut off and we read all summer. That also didn't kill us. Its like with anything else in life, when you notice there is not a balance, you reign things in. And, of course, tv should be age appropriate (but I'm not ready to make Liam give up CSI yet...I'm worried about what I've done to him letting him watch it, so I talk to him through the whole show about how he's going to be a scientist).
Reading is a big issue, though. The average person reads at the 8th grade reading level. Most highschool graduates are not graduating with a 5th grade reading level. But, I don't see why you have to eliminate tv in order to address reading and Reading education is my profession.
4:00 PM
When my son was about 2.5 months old, I was at my wits end because he wouldn't sleep unless I was holding him, or laying with him or something like that. He would just cry and cry and cry. One day I stuck him in his swing, put in a carebears movie, and left him there while I folded laundry right beside him. He slept for almost 2 hours, so yeah, he watches tv once and a while. But he's a baby, and really doesn't pay attention to anything for very long. My kids, at their moms, they watch tv all day long, lazy lazy children, I literally have to force the oldest to go outside and play. So, yeah, they watch tv, but not NEARLY as much at my house. Very limited at my house. So I see the good, and the bad. As with everything, there is a good and bad point. Oh, and everything we do is going to kill us.
6:15 PM
Hmmm, interesting discussion. I, too, agree with striking a balance. We don't have the tv on much here, but that's my preference for myself. Actually, I usually have it tuned to one of the music channels. The music calms me down. I find tv to be overstimulating at times. Again, this is how I feel about it for myself, not Maura.
She watched Baby Einstein. Especially if I need to get something done. And when dh is home, the tv is on most of the time, so she watched whatever dh is watching. I'm fine with that.
Interestingly enough, my dh grew up watching tons of tv. I swear he learned English from tv. He knows every single commercial ever played during the 70s and loves to drive me crazy with the jingles. Oh, and he's a MD. It didn't hurt his development.
6:18 PM
My kids watch probably too much tv but they are smart and get good grades. They are very active, love to play outside, have friends, etc.
We have too many tv's and cable and TONS of DVD's. Did I mention I have a DVD thingy in the car now?? LOL
9:35 PM
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