Childrens TV - Yes or No?

LordSutch

To let them watch childrens TV (or not)? that is the question :cool:

Is CBeebies good (or bad) for the childs development ???

Personally I don't see any harm at all in letting little one sit & watch "In the night garden", or Waybaloo, or even Teletubbies, (not sure about ZingZillas) though but I am told that some parents will not allow their little ones to watch any of the above! - I wonder what their rationale might be towards this blanket ban on Childrens TV ?

P.S. I am not talking about background TV, or all day TV, just selected progs like the ones mentioned above.

Woddle

I personally don't see a problem with the kids watching Tv, my 6 year old loves the likes of Hannah Montanna and Sonny with a chance. Her summer report was excellent, she couldn't have done any better but we would be a little bit selective. For example she is not allowed to watch Icarly due to the girl character Sam having a huge attitude problem and a total lack of respect for others.
My 4 year old is mad in to Peppa pig and Humf and will be going into junior infance and again is beautiful well mannered child who did well in her playschool.
I should add that they are not allowed to watch TV on a beautiful day till evening time.
I also don't understand the reasoning of not letting kids watch TV but each to their own.

mike65

Keep them away from the American formatted channels, they'll sound Californian and speak weirdly in no time (they'll also demand you move to a big open plan house). Peppa Pig and Ballymorey for the win.

Nevyn

Mine were only allowed to watch certain shows and in controlled bursts.

Current think is that if a child is left with too much tv time they become passive and don't' learn and explore as normal toddlers should and don't develop the same amount of neural connections in their brains.

I would monitor what your baby child is watching and it's effect on them as they watch it and afterwards, don't assume just because they are children s programs that there are ok to watch, they may have things which conflict with your morals and ethics.

Peppapig is currently the most popular children's program and it's toys and other merchandising out selling everything else but I know I have issue how the father is portrayed in the family and a bumbling idiot and constantly refered to as Silly Daddy.

I know some programs would make mine all hyper and others would have them chilled out so watch a few with them and see what they like and how it effects them and make your call based on that.

ectoraige

In all things, moderation is king. So long as the kids aren't being dumped in front of the set all day as a replacement for parental interaction, I can't see a problem with it.

I let them watch some cartoons while I'm tidying after breakfast, and if my three-year-old needs a nap in the afternoon I'll put a movie on for him; that'll keep him in one spot long enough for him to nod off.

Davidth88

Moderation Moderation Moderation

A couple of shows when they are tired in the afternoon , I see no harm

What I think is repugnant is abandoning the child for hours on end in front of the electronic babysitter.

Das Kitty

Both my husband and I love TV so I think we'd be a bit hypocritical to tell him he can't watch it!

He's watched the odd cbeebies programme (mainly for my curiosity as he's only 6 months) passive would be the last word I would use to describe his reaction, he gets very excited. That said he gets very excited by the radio too (RTE juniors is brill). Maybe he's just an excitable baby.

There's currently no evidence to show that watching television affects cognitive development (I would link to the study but I'm on my phone).

A friend's child who is 2 watches about an hour a day and she's very inquisitive and fairly advanced for her age.

I disagree with the point about American programmes giving kids a drawl, I watched heaps of US kids shows and never picked one up.

Nevyn

http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/tv_affects_child.html

Most kids plug into the world of television long before they enter school. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF):

* two-thirds of infants and toddlers watch a screen an average of 2 hours a day
* kids under age 6 watch an average of about 2 hours of screen media a day, primarily TV and videos or DVDs
* kids and teens 8 to 18 years spend nearly 4 hours a day in front of a TV screen and almost 2 additional hours on the computer (outside of schoolwork) and playing video games

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that kids under 2 years old not watch any TV and that those older than 2 watch no more than 1 to 2 hours a day of quality programming.

The first 2 years of life are considered a critical time for brain development. TV and other electronic media can get in the way of exploring, playing, and interacting with parents and others, which encourages learning and healthy physical and social development.

As kids get older, too much screen time can interfere with activities such as being physically active, reading, doing homework, playing with friends, and spending time with family.

Of course, television, in moderation, can be a good thing: Preschoolers can get help learning the alphabet on public television, grade schoolers can learn about wildlife on nature shows, and parents can keep up with current events on the evening news. No doubt about it — TV can be an excellent educator and entertainer.

But despite its advantages, too much television can be detrimental:

* Children who consistently spend more than 4 hours per day watching TV are more likely to be overweight.
* Kids who view violent acts are more likely to show aggressive behavior but also fear that the world is scary and that something bad will happen to them.
* TV characters often depict risky behaviors, such as smoking and drinking, and also reinforce gender-role and racial stereotypes.

http://www.whitedot.org/issue/iss_story.asp?slug=ADHD%20Toddlers

babies and toddlers parked in front of the TV have a much higher risk of developing ADHD by age 7, a new study shows
by Jean Lotus



A study from the American Academy of Pediatrics shows that watching videos as a toddler may lead to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD, also called ADD in UK) in later life.

TV watching "rewires" an infant’s brain, says Dr. Dimitri A. Christakis lead researcher and director of the Child Health Institute at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, Seattle, Wash. The damage shows up at age 7 when children have difficulty paying attention in school.

"In contrast to the way real life unfolds and is experienced by young children, the pace of TV is greatly sped up." says Christakis. His research appears in the April 2004 issue of Pediatrics. Quick scene shifts of video images become "normal," to a baby "when in fact, it’s decidedly not normal or natural." Christakis says. Exposing a baby’s developing brain to videos may overstimulate it, causing permanent changes in developing neural pathways.

"Also in question is whether the insistent noise of television in the home may interfere with the development of ‘inner speech’ by which a child learns to think through problems and plans and restrain impulsive responding," wrote Jane Healy, psychologist and child brain expert in the magazine’s commentary.


Babies brains grow rapidly

Even a child playing with its own fingers has the neural patterning that comes from bending, flexing, stretching and grasping. Scientists tell us that the brain develops in completely unique ways between birth and three years. As a kiddie viddie baby sits "mesmerized", neural paths are not being created. This is crucial brain development that stops by age three.

"You don’t want to think that something as innocent as half-an-hour’s peace and quiet could reduce your kid’s chances later in life," says Claire Eaton, 27-year-old mother from Lewisham, Australia.

Setting up baby for failure in school

Are parents who use infant videos such as "Baby Einstein" and "Teletubbies" putting their child at risk for a lifetime of Special Ed classes, school "behavioral therapy" and Ritalin?

In the study of more than 2,000 children, Christakis found that for every hour watched at age one and age three, the children had almost a ten percent higher chance of developing attention problems that could be diagnosed as ADHD by age 7. A toddler watching three hours of infant television daily had nearly a 30 percent higher chance of having attention problems in school.

Infant videos: They wouldn’t sell them if they were dangerous --Would they?

An explosion of kidvids for the bouncy chair set has hit the market. These include Baby Einstein, Baby Mozart, So Smart etc. TV shows, such as Teletubbies, aim at 18-month-old toddlers. These videos are peddled as "educational tools" to "give your baby a head start." The truth is, they are a video-tether that keeps baby out from underfoot.

Big problem for little people

Twenty-six percent of US children younger than age two have TV in their bedrooms - often watched from the crib, and 36 percent of families leave the TV on almost all of the time, even when no one is watching, according to a 2000 Kaiser Family Foundation study.

Don’t put your child at risk!

The good news is, infants and toddlers don’t need television to distract them. Humans raised children for 50,000 years before television sets and you can do it too. Your children can learn to entertain themselves or play with your supervision.

"When one-year olds are playing with a toy, they can explore it, poke at it, drop it," says Yale University Television Researcher Dorothy Singer. "They’re learning about space, about sound, and they’re developing sense of competence. Watching a TV show just doesn’t provide the same sensory experience."

Leaving a child alone with the TV is never a good idea.

"Would you entrust you toddler into the care of a baby sitter, even for a few minutes, who cannot hear or see your child?" writes Nancy Hall of Yale University’s Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy. "Would you leave your child in an environment that encourages passivity, limits creativity and results in increased aggressive behavior? Many 1-year-olds are spending time regularly with just such a baby sitter: the television set."

What is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?

ADHD affects 12 percent of US school children and has increased dramatically over the past 50 years. Studies show ADHD increased with the introduction of children’s television in the 1950s and then spiked higher in the mid 1980s when VCRs and home video became commonplace. Although the condition is known to be genetic, scientists have noted its rapid spread throughout every social class of children, and guessed that there could be an environmental cause. TV watching is a cause, this study shows.

How much TV should I let my baby watch?

No child under age two should watch television at all, the Academy of American Pediatrics advised in 1998. Doctors blame TV for increasing aggression and obesity in children, now they add ADHD risk to early TV use.

wolfpawnat

My son won't watch tv, he is always running around and never pays attention to anything. I really think not watching childrens tv has impeded his speech. They need a bit every day for their speech, they will see the colours and numbers and what not on screen and repeat what the see!

tscul32

Rule in our house (4 and 2 year old boys) is mid week - no tv until 5pm. Then they're at the dinner table at 6 for about 40 mins and getting ready for bed at 7. At the weekend it goes on for a bit in the morning when they wake up to give mammy and daddy a bit of peace - they wake up very, very early! I have also been known to stick a dvd on in my room (only time that tv is ever used) for them to watch while I have a shower, but only if they're messing too much and too giddy and I know someone will get hurt, it'll keep them quiet for 10 mins.
Will never have tvs in their rooms (until they're waaaaaaaaay older, late teens preferably and only if they buy it themselves) and never have a tv in the eating room.