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Strollerderby
Everyone knows screen time for little ones is a big no-no. Right? Attention problems, behavior issues, epic battles with their siblings over the remote: the problems TV can cause for kids are legion. The AAP has just issued new media guidelines for parents stressing that not only should young kids watch no TV at all, you shouldn’t watch TV yourself when your kids are around.
What if all this stress about screen time for kids is just so much fearmongering? Do screens really hurt the kids who watch them? One Slate writer is questioning the research. He says his 1-year-old son loves screen time, and letting him have it makes their lives better.
Hey, Mamas! Want some peace and quiet while you read this article? Throw some cartoons on the TV for the kids and settle in. Don’t worry. It won’t rot their brains.
At least, it might not. We really don’t know. That’s because, according to blogger Jessica Gottlieb, most of the science showing harmful effects of TV on kids is junk. In a long post on her blog, she lays into the University of Washington research team that has done the bulk of the research on kids and television.
Why does Gottlieb care so much if kids are being warned off watching the tube unnecessarily? It’s not that she loves her screen time so much. It’s that she hates having massive guilt trips laid on moms. Doubly so if the guilt is grounded in false fears.
“A child craves magic…and magic depends on having space where adults will not “butt in.” This includes literal space of the kind long gone from nearly every urban part of this country, like vacant lots and construction sites (not like playgrounds, which reek of adult intentionality), and also metaphorical space.”
So says Christina Schwarz in the most recent issue of The Atlantic, where she looks at childhood through two books examining the way we raise our children. One is a reissued classic, the other a historical analysis of our attitude towards play. Both, Schwarz says, bring her to the same conclusion: we have returned to an age where play for its own sake has lost its perceived value, and our kids are losing out big time.
How much do you control the remote?
When it comes to TV time, we have a rule: One show in the morning, two in the afternoon. This adds up to an hour and a half of TV each day, below the two hours recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Of course, “rule” might be overstating things. “Guideline” may be a more appropriate way to describe our approach to TV. Maybe I should say “guideline” with some flexibility when it comes to movies on the weekend and travel days.
And when they’re sick? Like both my kids were the last two weeks? They spent a lot of time watching television. There’s no better babysitter when mama has to work. All of which is to say I was very glad to read Abigail Green’s Babble story on The Truth About Kids and TV, which is, like co-sleeping, TV time and how bad it is is all about context.
As Green points out, the most severe limitations are reserved for kids under 2. No TV for them. It’s not good for early child development. Honestly, whether or not that will work for you will depend on a great many variables – your kids, your own TV habits (I can’t bear having the TV on as “background noise” so it never is), and your needs.
But, for very small children and older ones, the question of TV screen time (as distinguished from interactive media screen time) can be boiled down to this one posed by Green:
“Is the issue what they’re watching or how much?”
Come to the Magic Kingdom!
Disney says it’s done a whole lot of research into what “moms” want their kids to see when their kids watch TV. What they say they’ve learned is that moms with kids between the ages and 2 and 7 don’t expect their kids to learn academic skills from TV, but they do want them to learn life lessons.
So, in 2012, when Disney rolls out Disney Jr., its new channel for kids 2-7 that will compete with Nick Jr., the shows will be about life lessons, not counting or letters.
Call me kooky, but I didn’t realize TV shows had to be either about how to get along with others or about learning letters.
Time to put down the controls?
Today the Supreme Court hears Schwarzenegger Vs. Entertainment Merchants Association. In it, the state of California asks to ban the sale and rental of violent video games to those under 18.
The case raises many, many questions. Here’s one: Are violent video games bad for kids? (Maybe not.) Differently put, do they make kids more violent toward others ? (The research says yes.) Parents might not like violent video games but they’re protected as a form of free speech. By saying violent video games should be banned is the state acting like the parent? Continue reading »
Could Wall-E do more for your family than clean up?
In a lab in San Diego, toddlers teach robots how to act like humans, and robots teach toddlers — and grown ups — all kinds of things. If a robot doesn’t look particularly human, but responds to a twelve-month-old or even a third person, the toddler will treat the robot like it’s a human.
Maybe because they’re so responsive, babies have fun with robots. Robots can tell them something a baby has done is “excellent” and a baby will do it some more, happily. In this way, researchers learn about how emotions and emotional connections develop. Continue reading »
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