Children and Television

A lot of parents ask me about whether or not their child should be watching television and how much. This is really tough to answer because television can play an important role in a family. As an educator of course I know children learn best through play, and interactions with people and things in their environment. Here's what we know about children and television, hopefully this information will be helpful for some parents that are considering TV? and how much?...

• The American Academy of Pediatrics began urging parents in a statement from 1999 that children under two years of age not watch ANY television, or any other electronic media
• We know that studies have found a strong correlation between how much television children watch and increased rates of obesity and ADHD
• Research has demonstrated that children can learn from television after multiple viewings but that it takes much longer than interactive learning approaches
• Children in homes where the TV is always on are less likely to read
• Children are quickly spending as much or more time in front of a television than playing outside

Just Something to Think About: I heard the famous pediatrician T. Berry Brazleton speak at the National Association for the Education of Young Children Annual Conference in Chicago about a study on the impact physically to children from watching TV. I couldn't find the specifics of this study again, but I chatted with the other early childhood educators that were with me and here's what we remember: He spoke about a study in which they found children's breathing was accelerated while watching children's programs (perhaps these programs are more overstimulating than we think?). The only children's program that didn't seem to have any impact was Mr. Roger's--a very slow paced program.

So here's just a few things to think about...

• Is it possible for your child under two years of age not to watch television?
• If your child does watch television can you make sure it's only for brief periods of time, or can they watch television with you so that it's an interactive experience (plus, you can insure that the content is appropriate)?
• How often is your child playing outside?
• Is your television always running in the background?
• Does your child have multiple opportunities to look at books and listen to you read books?

For more information check the website www.screentime.org

I would also recommend that any parents seeking information about their children birth to three years of age, check out the Zero to Three website, www.zerotothree.org. Zero to Three is a very reputable organization serving early childhood professionals and parents. Some of my information from this post came from one of their research releases.