Time to Rant
I’m reading the July issue of Parents magazine, and on page 40 they have an article called, “Too Much Television?” It’s an FAQ with a doctor who specializes on the impact of media on children’s health. And his stance, not surprisingly, is that you should not let your kids watch TV before the age of 2, and only let them watch TV for an hour or two from the ages of 2 to 6. Now, I understand that kids these days are more violent, have more learning disabilities, have more weight issues, etc. than they did before and I am sure that TV watching has a lot to do with it. A lot. Putting your kids in front of the TV all day instead of reading to them, teaching them, playing outside with them, etc. is just bad parenting. And Keri can vouch for the fact that I read enough of these type of articles before Halle was born to believe it. I was all set against letting Halle watch TV before age two because articles like this state, “[even educational programming has] no positive effects for children under age 2. Their brains are not yet developed enough to learn from a screen.” Maybe some kids’ brains aren’t developed enough, but I give you exhibits A (Leah) and B (Annabelle) who were learning ridiculous things from the screen way before age 2 as proof that a child can benefit from educational television before age 2. This is a pet peeve of mine because I battled with guilt over this issue for a long time until I finally came to terms with the fact that not only do I let Halle watch age-appropriate educational TV shows, I also read to her A LOT, we do puzzles together, we play outside, we go for walks, we talk to each other, we draw together, she plays with her toys, she entertains herself, she is more capable than most of focusing on a task and patiently working things out, and.. she happens to pick things up that I didn’t think to teach her yet from her televised friends. And I bet if you throw Leah, Annabelle and Halle into a classroom with their peers, they’re going to be at the top of their class right now. I highly doubt any one of them is going to suffer in school or beyond from having watched Noggin.
*A note to the parents who don’t let their kids watch TV before age 2: I admire you for making this decision and sticking to it. I don’t in any way believe that kids suffer from not watching TV or anything crazy like that. In fact, when your kids are older, they can probably argue their points without using sentences with double negatives and phrases like “or anything crazy like that.” :) I just hate the way people make black or white statements about things that aren’t black or white. And then publish them in a magazine like Parents.
And while I’m ranting… Is anyone else sick of hearing that EVERYTHING causes obesity? TV watching causes obesity. Bottle feeding causes obesity. Letting your child drink juice causes obesity. Gestational diabetes leads to a child with obesity. Man, do my kids have every strike against them when it comes to obesity. You know what else causes obesity? Routinely consuming more calories than you burn. That’s what causes obesity. Stop trying to pawn it off on everything else.
And with that, my rant is done.
