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Ok I know a lot of people are agsinst tv and I know there is an awful lot of bad bad on there but I also think there is a lot of good. I love the disney channel. The shows are so cute and many of them have a good little message or something to learn. So for all you parents out there who have raised or are raising kids; How much tv do you think is ok?
I struggle with this daily! We also love the Disney Channel at our house. I have a toddler who is not only in love with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einstein's, and Handy Manny, but also Choo Choo Soul and Ahh and Ohh. She usually watches all of these in the morning. I try my best to turn the tv off after that, but I admit sometimes I turn it on for me. I stay at home and sometimes its just nice to have the tv on. I would love to hear what other people think about this topic!
We watch the shows you mention on Playhouse Disney. We also watch Noggin. There are now channels that are very educational and fun for young children to watch.
You'll hear from the contingency that frowns on TV, but I think that's silly. I was a pre-k teacher (education degree) and now am a SAHM. I do all sorts of activities with my children throughout the day. We do arts and crafts, music, reading, playing outside, blocks, etc., but of course they watch some appropriate tv also. I would have no sanity if I couldn't have a few minutes here and there to do dishes, or go to the bathroom, or make the beds!
We watch the shows you mention on Playhouse Disney. We also watch Noggin. There are now channels that are very educational and fun for young children to watch.
You'll hear from the contingency that frowns on TV, but I think that's silly. I was a pre-k teacher (education degree) and now am a SAHM. I do all sorts of activities with my children throughout the day. We do arts and crafts, music, reading, playing outside, blocks, etc., but of course they watch some appropriate tv also. I would have no sanity if I couldn't have a few minutes here and there to do dishes, or go to the bathroom, or make the beds!
I think every good parent questions this. It is more the habit you may be instilling in your children that is the problem than actually causing mental developmental issues. It also doesn't encourage socialization and exercise. Also remember the information flow is 1-way and it doesn't do much to stimulate sophisticated thought or visualization.
All that said TV can be educational. I especially see value in it when you stretch your child's mind by ensuring that if TV is watched that there's something new for them to watch (I think it's assinine to have them watch the same episodes of Diego or Dora over and over again). If something is new and also if there's something on the Discovery or National Geographic channel you can expose to your children (something other than cartoons, etc) I believe it is a great thing. Everyone needs a break from parenting, and this is a tried and true method. Just be certain you know what your child is watching. It really bugs me, but it seems that there is an uptick in Horror movie commercials on otherwise decent channels or when decent programming is on... I've had to move really quick to flip channels more than once.
What's too much TV?... I'd say that is too subjective. I would guess that if your child spends more time watching TV on any given day than socializing with other children, then that is probably too much. If your child would rather sit and watch TV than go outside to play, they probably are getting into a bad habit. If your child doesn't want to eat at the dinner or breakfast table and insteads insists upon eating in front of TV, then you probably need to cut back viewing there. These scenarios seem commonsensical in my opinion but I've seen households were the viewing habits were so bad that the kids were obese and in front of TV most of the day. The parents hardly seemed to care.... I'd say just don't let yourself or your family get to that point. If you're already experiencing one of these "symptoms" of too much or inappropriate viewership, then why not try cancelling cable-TV for a while. It may be drastic, but seriously will it hurt your family to do so? There's other things you can do to obtain quiet-time or a break... such as setting your kids up on playdates, doing arts and crafts, etc.
^^I agree w/ mbuszu. My daughter is allowed to watch only a few tv programs per week. She does like watching the Discovery channel and Animal Planet w/ my husband (they both love animals). It's great, she learns a lot about animals and nature. I also agree, she isn't allowed to watch a repeat of a program she's already seen (to me there is no point).
So many kids in my daughter's class, watch tv too much, and don't read. It's so sad to see that their reading skills aren't progressing throughout the school year.
I think it's up to the parents to monitor how much and what the content of the programs contain.
Personally, I think that excessive TV viewing is passive and non-productive and has no mentionalbe benefits. I don't really "buy" the educational benefits of TV since there is absolutley nothing that can be taught w/ TV that can't be taught in a better, more creative way.
With that said, do my three kids watch tV? Yes (even though we don't have cable, we watch movies together). Do they watch it daily? No way.
Both frequency and content are concerns and we monitor the TV viewing diligently. I think boys are especially being robbed of their childhoods because of their "addictions" to TV, comp, game boys, x-box, etc, etc. Many boys who are hyper and crazy-wild will become almost comatose in front of an electronic device. Talk about altering behavior. Anyone who has a boy 5-15 knows what I mean.
Here's what the American Academy of Pediatrics has to say on TV viewing:
During 1999 the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that children younger than 2 should not be allowed to watch television for fear that it will stunt the development of their brains.[1] The intellectual and emotional development of young children depends upon interaction with adults, and children watching TV are unlikely to receive the active attention they need from adults, the Academy said.
Specifically, the Academy said, "Pediatricians should urge parents to avoid television viewing for children under the age of 2 years. Although certain television programs may be promoted to this age group, research on early brain development shows that babies and toddlers have a critical need for direct interactions with parents and other significant caregivers (e.g., child care providers) for healthy brain growth and the development of appropriate social, emotional, and cognitive skills. Therefore, exposing such young children to television programs should be discouraged."[1]
The Academy also urged parents, once again, to limit all children's exposure to TV to 1 to 2 hours of "quality programming" per day. (The Academy has issued a series of similar recommendations, based on its concern about youth violence and TV, since 1984.) The national average for all children is now more than 3 hours of TV per day, the Academy said.[1] In other words, children now spend about 20% of their waking hours glued to the tube. This does not include time spent watching movies on videotape, watching music videos, playing computer or video games, or surfing the internet for recreational purposes. "Time spent with media often displaces involvement in creative, active, or social pursuits," the Academy said. By age 70, typical American children will have spent 7 to 10 years of their lives watching TV, the Academy said.
Why is watching the same episode a bad thing? I'm just curious. I know kids learn through repetition and reading the same book over and over to a toddler is encouraged, so is repeating a episode of a TV program different? My kids love Signing Time (2 year old twins) they watch it once a day and since there are only thirteen episodes, they watch a lot of the same ones more than once. They kind of have to in order to learn the signs. I'd really like to know if there's something negative about doing this.
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