The age old question…. Should you allow you child to watch television? This is one area where I have found a huge disconnect between research and reality (what parents are revealing in discussion forums).
Research indicates that watching television is not beneficial to a child’s development and may even be harmful. Some studies have shown that language development and attention abilities have been negatively effected when a child is exposed to television. Experts recommend that children under two years of age watch no television and after that no more than one half hour a day. Not only do some researchers recommend not allowing the children to watch television but extend this to using computers and other media devices as well.
There are a group of parents who follow this guideline and do not expose their children to television. I found that a fair amount of parents admit to allowing their children to watch television. I read articles that stated using the television as a babysitter is bad and I immediately thought to myself ‘obviously’ and admit I was surprised to find that some parents write about doing just this. I recall one woman talking about how she would use the television when she needed a break and felt it was better to allow her child to watch programming than to take frustrations out on her child. I totally agree, although I recognize that there are other options. Then there are the ever so popular videos marketed to parents to enhance their child’s abilities. Talk about a mixed message to mom and dad.
We live in a tech world. I don’t want to damage my child, impede his development, yet I don’t want him to be at a disadvantage because he was not exposed to media devices (mainly the computer). It’s a fine line, no wonder it’s the great debate.
I watch tv. My husband watches tv. Admittedly, he watches more sophisticated programming than myself, but we both sit in front of the television most evenings. We don’t have cable, so there is no mindless channel surfing. We don’t watch much tv during the day but we do put on music. I read that even listening to television can interfere a child being able to listen to individuals speak to him (because of the background noise) and hence effect his development. I wonder where music fits in to this scenario. Music is not seen as bad for children, is it (generally speaking)? There are times in my home when the television is on and the baby is in the room. I never use the tv as a babysitter. I spend the day and night with my child, interacting with him, reading to him, talking with him, playing with him, singing to him, holding him, and we get out of the house. So is having the tv on in the background while we participate in some of these activities really all that bad? Is it wrong for me to watch a program while I am nursing and he drifts off to sleep? Does this make me a bad mom? I am going to say no. I fall into the category of people that feel that as long as you aren’t using the tv as a crutch, a babysitter, and the amount of time a baby is exposed to tv is minimal, you are not going to harm your child. I make conscious decisions about television. I do agree that the imaging on television is fast moving and may be too much for a baby’s little brain to process so I actually make an effort to not let him ‘watch’ tv. We don’t watch the baby language videos or cartoons and I will have to do some research before deciding what exactly I will allow my little one to watch when the time comes that I feel it is appropriate for him to have a little tv time. Cartoons just aren’t what they used to be when I was a kid. Or are they and I am just old now??
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