A word about...TV for toddlers Children of all ages are constantly learning new things. The first 2 years of life are especially important in the growth and development of your child's brain. During this time, children need good, positive int

[Guest guest]

Doh,

 

Actually, three 30 minutes shows IS limited television. It just depends on your

perspective.

 

I come from a family that was centered around television. It was very normal

for me to come home from school and then sit in front of the TV from 3:00 in the

afternoon until 9:00 at night when I went to bed (with a break for dinner).

HOWEVER, my parents had a TV in the kitchen!!! We weren't supposed to talk or

discuss what we were watching. We were supposed to sit quietly and watch the

news.

 

On Saturdays, it was fine with my parents if I sat and watched TV all day long.

That's what they did. I had a TV in my ROOM and watched until the wee hours of

the morning. (I also loved to read, but my parents didn't encourage it.)

 

I go on playdates with mainstream moms once or twice a week. I've had the

discussion about " limiting " TV with some of them on our email groups, and many

don't believe in limiting at all. Their kids--even the preschoolers---often

have televisions IN THEIR ROOMS. In addition, the television is on all day

long. So their kid might not be sitting in FRONT of it, but it's on all day

long in the same room with them. They are exposed to all the commericals and

other questionable content. Not to mention that they are more apt to watch

instead of enaging in interactive play.

 

People think WE ARE WEIRD because of our limited TV policy for David. We keep

our television OFF and family members don't understand. It's normal for

everyone to keep their television on all the time and to SEEK out something to

watch. WE keep it off because we want David to play independently and with us.

He gets up around 7am and goes to bed around 8:00. One and a half hours of

television is NOTHING compared to what he'd be watching if we didn't limit TV.

He takes one 3 hour nap, so if we were home all day, he could actually watch 10

hours of television.

 

I can't tell you how many playdates I've been on where the TV has been blaring

so loud...we could barely hear each other or talk. Many parents don't even look

at what their kids are watching. When I mentioned it on another group, I was

told how educational TV was and how their kids had learned so much from TV. We

think there are some educational shows, and we'll let David watch them as he

grows up--on a limited basis.

 

Watching a Baby Einstein video while mommy cooks a great dinner or lunch(which

for us often involves stir-frying) is not something I consider an excess amount

of television. Of course, he continues to play while it's on, but he enjoys

hearing the music and seeing hte interesting toys. We limit him to 3 thirty

minute shows a day (as necessary) rather than keeping the tv on all day long

like both our families do. Believe me, we are RADICALS in our family because we

don't have CABLE! People come over and TELL US to get it. They don't know what

to do when they don't have 600 channels to watch. THey might have to have a

conversation or something.

 

The great thing is that David is getting older and is learning that he can't

touch the stove and so forth. Once he's 18 or 19 months, I expect him to be

able to sit in the kitchen with mommy more. He actually let me make homemade

tortillas yesterday!

 

SO basically, it varies from family to family. The norm for our family is

TELEVISION ALL DAY LONG. We're going against the norm by actually turning it

off. Go figure.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Jan

>

> Doh! <dohdriver

> 2003/09/09 Tue PM 09:40:17 EDT

>

> Re: A word about...TV for toddlers Children of all

> ages are constantly learning new things. The first 2 years of life are

> especially important in the growth and development of your child's brain.

> During this time, children need good, positive interaction with other

> children and adults. Too much television can negatively affect early brain

> development. This is especially true at younger ages, when learning to

> talk and play with others is so important. Until more research is done

> about the effects of TV on very young children, the American Academy of

> Pediatrics (AAP) does not recommend television for children age 2 or

> younger. For older children, the Academy recommends no more than 1 to 2

> hours per day of educational, nonviolent programs.

>

>