My moan was precipitated by this sentence, "Preschoolers aged 2 to 5 spend an average of more than 32 hours in front of a TV screen each week, according to Nielsen." The growl? That came when I read this gem, " ... Disney researchers found that when parents were asked what they most want for their children, the most popular reply was for them to be happy."
Call me a curmudgeon, but I think children's happiness is a terrible thing for which to aim. Happiness is a delightful by-poroduct, not a worthwhile goal. The more one pursues it, the less reachable it becomes.
In addition to basic needs such as food and shelter, children need a secure, affectionate, structured and responsive environment. If their imaginations and intellects have opportunities to expand and their bodies and souls have room to grow - they will be happy.
TV, I'm afraid, makes achieving many of those goals more difficult. The link between TV watching and lack of physical exercise is often touted. But that is a minor drawback compared to other areas. I can't cite scientifically based studies and I was certainly not interested in conducting experiments with my own children, perhaps raising half of them with TV and half without. But, having watched my children and those of most of my friends' grow up without a TV, I saw their creative play and abilities to entertain themselves soar. Rather than self-medicating boredom with a television screen, they responded to the discomfort of being at loose ends with sparks of resourcefulness.
Was the ability to entertain themselves more evident in post-preschool years? Certainly. Books, puzzles, activities and crafts have limited appeal for a toddler without an adult or older child's participation. Unfortunately, TV is not a worthy replacement playmate. Leaving aside the potential physiological effect on the developing eyes and brain, it makes the preschooler a passive recipient. It may keep the child quiet, but at a cost. Counting to ten with Elmo is not the same as counting to ten with Mommy and neither Dora the Explorer nor Kai-lan Chow, the cartoon character who teaches Mandarin Chinese, do so with hugs and tickles. My personal conviction is that the more TV a child watchs from birth to age five or so, the less capable he will be of independent entertainment and learning as he moves beyond the preschool years.
I know first-hand the struggle to find time to take a shower, the mind-numbing effect of reading Hop on Pop hundreds of times and the frustration of trying to accomplish any adult activity with a three year old at hand. With hindsight, I also know how fleeting those early years are and how impressionable minds deserve to be givewn loving, personal attention rather than an electronic visual distraction in the guise of either education or entertainment.
THANK YOU SUSAN! I find it quite ironic that today, a childhood friend posted on Facebook an article from a magazine called The Atlantic. The article is titled "Your Child Left Behind" and is about the appalling test scores of American children versus the rest of the world. The article refers to a conclusion that the reason for the poor performance of American students compared to those of the rest of the world is a result of our "nationwide diversity." HUH? How about this - it's the result of too much passive entertainment - videos, television, computer games. Kids don't know how to have FUN anymore without bigger and better toys!
Now lest I get too high on my soapbox, let me refer you to my friend Karina's blog. This young mom (and their ever-expanding network of like-minded young parents) is raising 3 children and actually TEACHING them and DOING THINGS WITH them - such fun things that I tend to "borrow" ideas from her for our Kid Zone. Check out her blog at http://www.mummamadeit.blogspot.com/ KUDOS TO YOU, KARINA!
And that's my sermon for the day!
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