A Smart Approach to This Week's TV Turnoff
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Ignorance - How Ironic
Noel: With all due respect, what makes you say that TV, computer games and cell phones are "mostly crap" for all ages? Have you researched each medium in depth to accurately assess its pros and cons? My guess is that you have not done so, which makes it especially ironic that your post was titled "Ignorance." But I digress...
When I was a kid in the 70's and 80's, my parents severely limited my TV viewing, and I never had access to a video game system. Their efforts backfired worse than they could ever have imagined, as I'm now (at age 37) what might be termed a TV and video game fanatic. Tivo is my god.
However, I'm selective in what I watch and play, especially in the presence of my preschooler son. Nothing overly violent or stupid is allowed. As far as I can tell, my son has only benefitted from the presence of high-quality TV and video games in his home. At almost age five, he has an unusually advanced vocabulary, refined taste in music and *incredible* fine motor skills. I attribute all three of those wonderful gifts to his early exposure to all forms of entertainment, as well as several preschooler-targeted websites that have helped him develop excellent mousing skills.
What's more, my son is now becoming increasingly bored with television, and prefers to play outside most of the time. I guarantee that if I had taken steps to limit his viewing habits, he'd still be begging for more, just like me.
Honestly, we can try as hard as we like to lead our children in the right direction, but when it comes to things that are as unavoidable in our culture as television and video games, we have a lot less control than we imagine.
Audio Adventures Instead
Dear Nancy,
There is a great alternative, a huge hit in Germany since the '70s, the advent of audiotapes: Audio adventures!
And I just added a short article "Why Audio Adventures? Kids Listen Differently" on our website: http://giddio.com/AboutUs.html
Please, feel free to contact if you have any questions or requests!
Sincerely,
Jens Hewerer
Founder & Top Kid
Giddio - Audio adventures for kids!
Ignorance
TV is mostly crap, for any age. So are computer games, cell phones for kids (especially), wi-fi and other sources of microwave radiation that top doctors are now warning about as brain tumors and other neurological problems associated with this burgeoning technology timeline (roughly 10 years) abound everywhere. Something to think about -- the mental AND physical environment and culture...
Nancy Shute replies: Hey Greg, tell us about your kid video business
Hey Greg, you're not giving yourself enough credit! You founded a kid video business. Do you see differences in how kids of different ages use your products? Or is it driven more by parents? Does the toddler beg for that Nittany Lions DVD, or does Mommy push that? And what if Mom's a Redskins fan, and Dad's cheering for the Cowboys? Do the kids have to take sides?
Nancy
On Parenting -Nancy Shute
Wow, really? You mean there are still three sides to this story? The "for", the "against" and the "it depends what it is"....I'm still shocked. When it comes to infants, toddlers and children watching television let's just agree that all three sides have valid points. If you choose not to allow your children to watch any television at all, that's your prerogative as a parent. I'll only speak for my house...I'm not sure it's even possible that my children could watch NO television even if I wanted it that way as I humbly confess, we tend to leave a TV or two on every once in a while. So I'm sorry Pediatric's Academy your "no TV under two" is an impossibly high bar to set in my house...Not to mention, I don't buy it and neither does my own children's pediatrician...As for the children that seem to learn more words from some programming versus another, let me ask you this question...What are those same children doing the rest of the day? Are their parents engaging them, teaching them, ignoring them? There has got to be many more factors in which children are learning more words and from where. You can't tell me that these kids involved in that survey have only seen baby einstein or dora and have no outside ways of learning and absorbing other words....
Seems to me that the most reasonable and realistic approach comes from the one with the least initials after her name. She's just a "mother of two", well that qualifies her in my mind....Content, context and your child. I like the 3 c's. If you put your child in front of a law and order marathon, one could say you're not too bright... If you use TV to baby sit your child you're certainly not alone, but there's a big difference between a 30 minute Team Baby DVD and an actual NFL game. So, once again alot of common sense comes into play.
Unfortunately, however not all common sense is common or sensical so articles like this need to be out there so at the very least we can feel as if we're being reasonably guided into being responsible parents....But, this is US News Magazine so probably a pretty good demographic to begin with....
