Parent Handout

www.familycenter-pirc.org

A program sponsored by The Family Center of Utah Valley

TV Smart!

Parents should be very, very selective about what they allow young children to watch, and also very careful about limiting the total quantity of TV viewed.²

Many preschoolers today spend more time in front of the TV than it takes to get a college degree! In the average American home the television set is on just under seven hours each day. A recent magazine article included this statement: “Once, television’s window on the world mirrored solid family ties, heroes drawn in bright primary colors, and a society of permanence and belonging. Now . . .it’s clear that our TV shows are showing quite a different picture. In fact, it’s arguable that television is no longer a mere window on our world but the value-setter itself.” ¹

Studies show that television has negative effects on children:

·         Small children believe what they see. They are not able to tell the difference between what is real and make-believe. TV and video games can confuse and mislead them. Children under 7 years old are very influenced by what they watch, especially by powerful images of violence.

·         Watching too much TV or watching programs that contain violence, sex or bad language can interfere with a child’s brain development. The brain's executive control system, or pre-frontal cortex, is responsible for planning, organizing and sequencing behavior for self-control, moral judgment and attention. These centers develop throughout childhood and adolescence, but some research has suggested that "mindless" television or video games may idle this particular part of the brain and impoverish its development.

·         Sometimes children hurt themselves or others because they copy what they have seen on the screen.

·          In a 30 page Senate report, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychological Association all agree that violence in the media is related to aggression in real life. On average, only 1 of 5 acts of violence on television and in movies is properly punished and the "good guys" carry out 2 of 5 acts of violence shown.

·         Cartoons are some of the worst programs for children. On an average 18 violent acts occur each hour. Physical and verbal aggression increases in 3-4 year olds who watch these programs.

·         TV can make children more passive. Kids need to be doing something in order to grow. All too often, the TV can block a child’s rapidly developing social and mental skills. It also leads to childhood obesity.

·         The nature of the stimulus may predispose some children to attention problems. Even aside from violent or overly stimulating sexual content, the fast-paced, attention-grabbing "features" of children's programming (e.g., rapid zooms and pans, flashes of color, quick movement in the peripheral visual field, sudden loud noises) were modeled after advertising research, which determined that this technique is the best way to engage the brain's attention involuntarily. Such experiences deprive the child of practice in using his own brain independently, as in games, hobbies, social interaction, or just "fussing around." Many parents of children diagnosed with attention deficit disorder found the difficulty markedly improved after they took away television viewing privileges.

·         Children who have television sets in their rooms tend to watch more television with less supervision. Keep TV sets in a family room where parents can "tune in" regularly.

·         Higher levels of television viewing correlate with lowered academic performance, especially reading scores. This may be because television substitutes for reading practice, and partially because the compellingly visual nature of the stimulus blocks development of left-hemisphere language circuitry. A young brain manipulated by jazzy visual effects cannot divide attention to listen carefully to language. Moreover, the "two-minute mind" easily becomes impatient with any material requiring depth of processing. Language skills also fall behind.

·         TV that is only on in the background can still be damaging. TV interrupts children’s ability to play independently and it hampers their creativity.

·          When adults watch TV they are focused on the program and children get less one-on-one attention. On average, parents spend only 40 minutes each week in meaningful conversation with their children.

·         TV exposes children to toy, sugared food and other product advertising that manipulates children. We have created a nation of materialistic consumers both children and adults. On average a child sees 30,000 television commercials per year.

·         Children are being exposed at a tender young age to an adult world through the eyes of television. Television presents a picture of how people and society as a whole get along. The effect is to shape “social reality”, our beliefs about the world we live in. The more television you watch, the more television’s reality becomes your families’ values.

·         Before television children played more often, read more, spent more time talking to parents, shared more joint projects and chores, and ate together. Lifelong television viewing habits can be established by age 2 1/2.

TV should be used as a supplement to regular stimulation, love & fun. Try not to use the TV as a baby-sitter. Parents should be very, very selective about what they allow young children to watch, and also very careful about limiting the total quantity of TV viewed. Preschoolers should watch TV no more than 5 hours a week. The best way to assure that your child's viewing time is used well, is to spend time with your child while watching TV. Be sensitive to his or her skill level and choose material that is appropriate to his or her developmental stage. TV can be a great teaching tool - or it can be a big problem. How TV is used is up to you, the parent.

The T.V. is turned on at my home for ______________ hours each day.

I monitor what my children are watching. _________________________________________________________

T.V. shows that fit my families’ values are: _______________________________________________________

I spend quality time with my children every day that does not include television viewing. ____________________

I discuss with my children beliefs and ideas about our world that they see on T.V__________________________

I model for my children good T.V. viewing practices. ________________________________________________

Visit the Parents Television Council website: www.parentstv.org. for information on television viewing recommendations, etc.

¹(Another View of the Window, Triangle Publications) ²American Academy of Pediatrics, AAP News, May 1998.

http://www.babybumblebee.com/company/your_child.cfm, http://www.aboutourkids.org/aboutour/articles/tv_facts.html