There has been a lot of debate and opinions about whether or not young children should watch television and have access to electronic games. Many parents and pediatricians feel that absolutely no TV or games should be shown to a child before the age of three. Many people and pediatricians agree that a little TV/game playing is fine as long as it is supervised and appropriate after the age of two. And then there are the parents who think plopping their kids down in front of the TV for a couple of hours a day while they get work/cleaning/etc. done is no harm. Where do you stand? Should TV/games be shown to young children? At what age are they appropriate?
There has been a surprising shortage of studies done on this subject (hundreds of articles, but really not many studies). Pre-school aged children have been focused on a bit, but infants and toddlers are rarely brought into it. A few researchers have found that many toddlers and infants actually end up with language delays and attention problems when exposed to television early. They studied children from age two months to four years and found one of the main reasons why they have these deficits is because the caregivers and children all vocalized a lot less when there was audible television in the room. When you think about it, that makes perfect sense. You usually turn on the TV to watch it and listen to it, not to have a conversation. Researchers of this study also found that with each hour of television watched the subjects had a decreased average of 770 words the child heard from caregivers. So from that study we can take the following: when the TV is on, no one is talking, conversing, or paying attention to one another's conversations. Children need to hear true speech, be spoken to, and verbally interacted with in order to have a better development of speech and other verbal skills.
OK.
So, no TV?
Have you ever heard of the Sesame Street Impact? I know, I know. No one watches Sesame Street anymore. When I was in college studying for my early childhood education degree, I was astounded at one of my class topics: How Sesame Street Changed the World. And it was true! Sesame Street was the beginning of not just "educational children’s television” but actually helped bring to light just how intelligent and capable a toddler or preschooler can be. Did you know that your two year old is completely capable of counting to 20? (Please bear in mind that all children grow and learn differently and at different times, but the potential is there.) Before Sesame Street, letters and numbers were not even a main subject in kindergarten, but now you’d be hard pressed to find a child entering kindergarten without already knowing most letters, numbers, shapes, colors, and more! I’m not even going to begin talking about all of the amazing social activism Sesame Street has done, it would practically make this little article a book. Sesame Street has also been honored many times over for the language it has brought to the world. Millions of children in over 17 countries have learned English with the help of Sesame Street.We take the following: Obviously not all TV is bad TV.
But how can you tell what is truly “educational” and what is just junk? You use common sense. Example: no TV show, video game, DVD, etc. can teach your child to talk, read, do quantum physics, develop a genius gene, turn them into Einstein, or anything else. If you want to educate your child, then you need to educate them. Read with them. Talk with them. Go on ‘field trips’ to the Grocery Store, and the Bank, and the Car Wash! Education is everywhere. And if you don’t know Spanish, once a week sit with your child, watch Dora, and do all the shouting out together. Watch Diego and then go use the computer to print out pictures of whatever animal it was he rescued and then go on a nature hunt to find it outside!
Here is my final point, my suggestion to you, as a responsible and loving parent who only wants what is best for their child: You decide. Do what you know and feel is right for your family and your children. I think we can all agree that a child who sits in front of the TV for two hours watching whatever is on is obviously not getting the best. But can any of you really say that a one year old who can count to twenty in English and ten in Spanish because she saw a couple episodes of Dora is a horrible thing? We live in a technical age. When our children are adults I can not even imagine the amount of technology that will be thrust upon them at every turn. Sheltering children from TV and other technologies like electronic games just seems a bit silly. I do not promote TV or games as a baby sitter. I do not promote infants being propped up on pillows watching Dora or Sesame. I promote responsibility, logic, and free choice. Use discretion, use common sense, and use these technologies as a tool. If you educate yourself and choose carefully you will find some wonderful and truly educational technologies.
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