How Bad Is TV, Really?

Television is called the "boob tube" and the "idiot box," but is it really all that bad? Mindy Roberts from The Mommy Blog asks the panelists, is there any benefit to TV? Or is television harmful to kids? What's your take on television watching? How strict are you when it comes to TV time? Do you think too many parents are using television as an electronic babysitter? Special thanks to Momversation subscriber mom2amara who suggested this topic.

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Showing the Latest of 7 Comments

Pat
3 yearss ago

i have had the exact same conversation with my mom the other day.. actually she thinks that I let my daughter who is four, watch too much tv ... I think that its just ok since I have a newborn I should probably not say that but the tv lets me take care of the newborn while the older one is out of my hair. My mothers point of view is that her children (i and 3 others) did not watch that much tv when growing up.. well I did have to remind her that one there is sesame street and the family channel (here in Canada) and two growing up in Haiti we did not have electricity to even watch the tv ( we actually used it as a table for our barbies)

chubbacoo
3 yearss ago

I have given this a lot of thought...I think it really depends on your child (age/temperment/learning style) and what they are watching. http://chubbacoo.blogspot.com/2008/02/cam-throws-me-bone.html

5minutesformom
3 yearss ago

I think television can be used wisely. My first baby learned to sign over 200 words from "Signing Time". Susan

Jasileet
3 yearss ago

I agree with chubbacoo. It really depends on the child If your child is a good communicator and interacts with others comfortably I don't think there's harm in allowing some educational TV. Our solution for just about -every- issue we had with television was to just buy DVD's and keep the sets up high. (Yes, we bolted -everything- to the walls in case of climbers). This way we can limit time, select the programming and completely cut the commercials. We hate, hate, hate commercials. There are a lot of products we don't like and we -really- don't approve of the way they market to small children. *On the side- Last Halloween I was determined to have an awesome time with my toddler. I selected carefully her flashlight, goody bag, our route... she and I shopped for her costume, we picked the best goodies to give out and decorated. We even practiced trick-or-treating Daddy in the closet. (heh) What did this good little mommy forget? While I was making dinner and getting everything ready I let her watch a little TV. She came downstairs to eat and said sweetly, "Happy Halloween, Mommy". Whoops! Forgot that. I guess it was a gift from childrens' programming. =)

ilanabit
3 yearss ago

Its pretty disappointing to me that there's plenty of great "edutaining" programs for pre-schoolers, but the shows produced for tweens and teens lack that same kind educational content. For most (if not all) pre-school shows, there's an entertaining premise that has educational content threaded through the plot, but we loose that thread in programs for older kids. PBS and DSK both do a great job, and yet, that's not what kids watch. Certainly not in the same big numbers that watch Nick, Disney, and CN programming. As a producer I assure you that its hard, REALLY HARD, to have educational shows get noticed by the major studios. You have to create a product that does really well as an independent in order to get widespread distribution. I think that generally, most parents, networks, and producers all feel like once kids are in school, they're getting their education there, and when they consume media in their free time, they want to be entertained. As the world of media consumption evolves, we as parents need to be focused on teaching our kids how to be critical, discerning consumers and help make good choices when selecting the shows, websites, social media that they're going to spend their time on.

adg
3 yearss ago

The thing that we most need to be careful of when considering how much TV time to allow our young ones is how it affects their learning style. As a teacher and a mother of two small people, I have learned through experience and research the effect television can have on the wiring in a child's brain, their vision, etc. If allowed to be passively entertained by television for long periods of time at a young age they will struggle with the work of reading and writing, the work of learning. Their eyes and brain will be used to flashing images, constant sound and the like and the traditional teaching methods of schools will be challenging to them. In the eleven years I have been teaching, I have seen such a difference in students' thinking skills. Linear thought capabilities have taken a direct hit as I now teach more students who had electronic babysitters from a young age on. I agree that some educational television is okay, but it is our job as parents to educate them and not to rely on the television to do that. If we permit them to waste away in front of the "glowing box," they will expect to be able to solve problems in short amounts of time and for their education to be offered to them in sound bites.

legpub
2 yearss ago

I believe that many times child behavior problems can be influenced by whats on TV.

How Bad Is TV, Really?

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