Must NOT See TV
It turns out that our hunch was right. TV is an evil thing for humans with ages in the single digits (and probably people with double-digit ages too!).
Can you believe that 40% of homes just leave the television on all the time?
I wonder if those same parents would do the same if they knew how damaging it was to their children's development.
What makes one show superior to another is almost chilling in its simplicity, given that TV commonly serves as a substitute babysitter. "The closer the product comes to simulating the way a good nursery school teacher or attentive parent talks to a young child, the better," Ms. Guernsey writes.
A stunning number of families with babies and young children--39%, in one study--keep the TV on constantly. And the effect on small children is appalling: "Always on" television has been shown to damage their ability to play imaginatively and to develop language, and it reduces the number of nurturing interactions between parents and children. One researcher told Ms. Guernsey that little children trying to learn words in the presence of constant noise are "devastatingly impaired."
wsj.com
Can you believe that 40% of homes just leave the television on all the time?
I wonder if those same parents would do the same if they knew how damaging it was to their children's development.
Labels: book review, opinion journal, parenting, tv, wall street journal, wsj.com
This entry was posted on
Tuesday, January 22, 2008.
Before you leave, post a comment please!.
1/22/08 9:26 PM
We've limited TV time for our toddlers to the point where they see about 1/2-1 hour of TV PER MONTH -- and that's because they see it at school, church or other places outside the home.
The amazing thing is that our kids NEVER ask to watch tv like our friends' kids do just BEGGING and pleading, and never-ending nagging their parents 24/7. Our kids aren't bored, they play with each other, pick up books and other toys and are constantly active.
In school, our eldest child was the first to read so far in the class and is much more attentive and has a longer attention span according to the teacher.
If only more parents read this article of book.
And it's kind of appalling to see what a little older kids are allowed to watch when we visit other people's homes. So much inappropriate content is plainly shown with the kids in the room -- stuff that the parents would never talk about or allow at the dinner table, yet the kids hear it all day long in the living room.