TV Watching Is Bad for Babies' Brains

Ifeel that it is important what our kids begin watching on tv because it has a real effect on the kids and their choices today, I know because I am a mother of three and I see what it would and can do to my kids if I wasnt home with them to teach them better. It cause them to rush with their homework (JUST PUT ANYTHING ON THE PAPER),to get to the television. I feel that no television should be allowed during the week only on weekends and should only be educational channels,such as Dora, Diego and Spongebob is ok..Their should always be a limit. Children that look as gang, drug and adult movies are more likely to become successful in school which cause their grades to drop ,less focus and not completing school, thayts why when you start them at a young age,it will stick with them as they grow up to what not to do and what is approopiate for them.

Mary wallace of GA 12:34PM January 18, 2011

I'm the mom of an 18-month old daughter. She watches NickJr (no commercials, lots of music) almost every day in the morning while we're getting ready and eating breakfast and in the evening while I'm preparing dinner. In all honesty, it probably totals 2 hours a day, maybe more. Her vocabulary is off the charts and she has been early for nearly every milestone. Her memory is amazing. I don't substitute TV for other activities such as reading, coloring, building or playing outside, but it has a rightful place in our daily life. As is the case with so many things with children, I think teaching responsible TV habits will serve everyone well in the future. And heck yeah, when you're home alone with a rambunctious toddler, sometimes 30 minutes of TV time can be a huge sanity saver for mom or dad.

Also, this study seems limited in so many ways. I'm not sure it's reasonable to connect TV viewing to negative developmental outcomes in a population that faces a number of other challenges that can also affect development.

Rebecca of CT 2:34PM December 18, 2010

I have 3 children, ages 13, 11, and 15 months. When my daughters were babies, I limited their TV watching to PBS. It is saturated with language development programming and math and science.

My girls have always had a very well developed vocabulary and started reading as soon as they were old enough to hold a book. My oldest daughter was reading 3 syllable words at age 4 and knew some words that some adults can't even pronounce much less know the meaning of. They are both, now, honor roll students with an avid love for reading and writing stories, not to mention drawing. They both tutor other classmates and friends and my second daughter is in Beta club and the Accelerated Art program in her elementary school. She already is making plans on what she wants to do when she grows up and is starting the steps to qualify for a scholorship when she graduates because we can't afford to pay for her college.

My 15 month old is also watching PBS everyday. That's basically the only programming on tv during the day. He already has an advanced vocabulary and can speak more words than babies his age and is starting to speak in two word phrases. He can also sign the word "more" and "all gone". He understands most of what I say and reacts accordingly to everything I say to him.

I think TV in general isn't the problem, so much as what the child is exposed to and how much time the parents spend teaching their children. A baby who doesn't have verbal stimulation and is only baby talked to will obviously have trouble developing a decent ability to pronounce and understand words. A baby who has hands on learning time with their parents, recieves a lot of vocabulary input and who's parents use words that are more advanced than the average person will most definately pick up on that knowledge and learn more. It's common sense.

There are a lot of factors that go into how a child learns and develops. If a study is to be done, there needs to be a control group. Working parents vs. an at home parent, poverty, the intelligence level of the parents, needs to be considered in a study like this. It needs to be more scientific to be accurate.

Angela of LA 3:56PM December 17, 2010

Yeah, I've always believed that tlevision is pure poison.

I think infants are attracted to the color and movement of images. It is what they are seeing that atracts them at such a young age. They are not yet able to understand what they are seeing, but they no less become addicted to watching.

Later, they learn to wrong things as they hear and start understanding. I think violence in movies and cartoons acts to desensitize them as it does to everyone.

Television is okay, for the most part. But for children I think we all have to make serious decisions about what they watch and how often they are before the television screen.

This is one reason why I promote family hobby concepts. Inteeracting and learning are keys to early developement of children. Strong bonding comes from such quality time spent together.

Just my brief thoughts.

Merry Christmas to all of you. Have a great New Year too!

Larry

Larry Price of CA 1:54PM December 15, 2010