How much TV is bad for kids?

[Tri'ahna Zylary]

Okay, let me just state that I don't even have a TV, and we don't watch any TV. We do occasionally sit down together and watch a movie or some small children's series - usually as a treat when Nya is sick and has to stay in bed. That way I get to carefully select what she watches.
I know when she's at my parents' or grandparents', she gets to watch various things, from the news to animal shows or something. But they know me well enough not to allow her too much of it.

I'm a firm believer that TV is bad for kids. Not only that most of the stuff on TV is seriously idiotic these days, but also that it seems to rob children of a part of their imagination. I am not saying it's turning them into kids who don't have any imagination, but .... well.... I dunno.

I don't like this whole thing of people who stick their kids in front of the TV just so they are entertained and the parents don't need to do anything with them. I don't think that's something good. Unfortunately in this country it's getting to be more and more normal to do that, and no one seems to see anything wrong with that. Whatever happened to reading to their children? I've got the best case right at my doorstep - my niece. My sister did exactly that - everytime she wanted time for herself she put her in front of the TV so she'd be entertained, and by the time the girl was 3 years old she had all the Disney movies at home and knew how to play them by herself. But by then she'd also reached a point where you couldn't read a book to her - if there were no moving pictures, she just couldn't concentrate on it. That is seriously scary.

The other day I really saw the difference in something else, too: right before Carnival, Nya was sick for two days so we watched some of the old episodes of the Munsters. I wasn't sure if it wasn't something scary for her since it had all these "creatures" that she'd never heard of, but she surprised me by finding it nothing but funny and afterwards riddled me with questions about vampires, werewolves, monsters, etc.... I wasn't sure if telling her what they are is a good thing - it would give children nightmares - but I didn't realise that she simply accepted that for what it was. The Munsters were funny - so to her vampires and werewolves and such weren't something scary, nevermind that they drink blood and kill people. She simply had nothing bad to compare it to and so ever since she's just added them to her inventory of characters (it's weird to see a 6 year old play with her dolls and have them all be vampires and werewolves who drink blood out of teacups and have to stay up late so they can howl at the moon :lol)
But then the other day I was reading a book to her and there were "wild harpies" in there and when I read it out aloud I made them sound scary - so she's had a couple of nightmares about that since.

I think that's a wonderful insight in what motivates children, and what shapes their views. I think if I stuck her in front of the TV and let her watch all kinds of stuff, I'd limit her imagination with that, amongst other things. She'd simply be influenced by the opinions shaped of things, people, creatures, on the TV, and probably not as open to other ideas as otherwise.

But that's just my opinion. Question is, what do the other parents (or non-parents) think about this?

[Dasquian Belargic]

I don't think TV necessarily limits the imagination. Visual imagery can be as much of a stimulant as the written word, and books can be coded with just as many shaping/moral messages as television programs (I'm looking at you, Chronicles of Narnia).

I think you probably just need to reasonably balance the amount of exposure children get, to any kind of media. I spent a lot of my childhood playing videogames, but I also spent a huuuge amount of time drawing and writing about characters of my own creation. Then again, video games do require active mental participation - problem solving and such - so perhaps I shouldn't group them with television, which can be much more mind-numbing.

That all being said, I do agree with you that TV shouldn't be a way of keeping children 'busy'. I remember adults trying to use this one on me when I was younger, actually, and being conscious of what a cop-out it was even then. I'd have much rather they just sat me down with a pencil and some paper. Whether or not that's because of how I was raised, or because I'm just naturally creative, who knows... that's the old unsolvable nature/nurture debate :)

[Zeke]

My mom gave me 2 hours of TV a day after school to unwind before dinner and homework, and I'll probably use that as the starting limit for my children. Naturally, I'd prefer they watch something semi-intelligent, whether it be something blatantly educational like Animal Planet or just a cartoon that's particularly smart in some manner.

[Khendon Sevon]

Really, as long as you don't let them veg out in front of it and you don't use it as a "now my kid is alone, muuhuhahahah!" thing, I think it's fine.

My cousins use TV to quiet their children so they can do other things. Of course, they also don't read to them, really play with them, or any of those usual things. I've rarely met kids with such little imagination.

Honestly, as long as you're "being" in your kids lives and interacting with them and their fantasies, I think they'll be creative.

I think it's more important to foster creativity through creative projects than worrying about TV robbing it from them.

What robbed most of my "childish creativity" was my parents telling me I needed to go to college to get a good job and make lots of money from age 11 on... I resisted until 8th grade and was a very happy, introverted individual that spent most of his time in his mind.

Then, I bought into it all and ended up a good, motivated student :( What a waste that was.

You have to fight tooth-and-nail to win back every trace ounce of that youthful imagination.

I'm just a bitter 21 year old.

Look, another diatribe!

[Kraehe Branwen]

I don't think TV is bad. My son watches it and pretty much limits how much he watches himself. I leave his TV on in his room all day pretty much all day as background noise with educational shows(I have DVDs of sign language shows, Blues Clues, Go Diego Go, Baby Einstein, etc) but most of the day he prefers to play and only pays attention maybe 25% of the time. I'll admit that yes he is behind in his talking, but he does know how to count up to 14, knows his ABCs(all of them), knows his colors, and knows how to say a few animals including Jaguar(because Go Diego Go is about rescuing animals). He even knows sign language from those DVDs, which has helped immensely with our ability to communicate between one another until we get help from a speech therapist(most boys are behind in speech development, it runs in my family I found out, and in my ex's). But as for not allowing imagination to develop? Nope! My son has a stuffed animal of baby Jaguar and a doll of Diego from Go Diego Go and I'll see him running around babbling to himself and playing with them. And though I can't understand a word he's saying, I know he's making up adventures in his head. Plus for the longest time he was pretending to be a dog all day everyday. That phase ended though. LOL That was when he was about a year and a half til when he was two and a half. He'll be three March 2nd. And lately he's been lining up his construction cars out in the kitchen and pushing them around with his head pushed as far to the ground as possible, all quiet as though he were concentrating, pushing some of the levers up and down, getting them in a conga line and pushing them along in their line. So he's not lacking in an imagination.

As for my daughter, she's six months old and the poor dear is out here watching soap operas with mommy most of the day and at night when they are off and nothing else is on I'll turn on baby einstein for her. She doesn't pay attention to my soaps thankfully LMAO but she loves baby einstein. She only has two DVDs. One is mostly music and delightful stuff to look at like bubbles and the beach. The other one is called "My first signs". After she started watching that one she immediatly started learning how to say "mama" and "dada". I don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but the DVDs didn't seem to hinder her development either way. She's only six months and can already tell the difference between the two of us. Before that she wasn't babbling at all. She just jumped right in and started saying it. Then two weeks later she started pointing at things she wanted, like rattles or the TV when she wanted to watch her DVDs. Her favorite is the one with the music. She doesn't care too much for the sign language one yet. The only thing I'm worried about with her is that shes not pushing up off her hands yet, but thats not something that the DVD would be at fault for. I put her on her belly all the time but she just doesn't seem to want to try at all. All in due time.

It all depends on what the parents allow their children to watch and if the parents interact with their kids. I periodically go to check on my son and will sit and watch with him if he's paying attention to the TV at all. I'll sit and watch with my daughter too. Baby Einstein says the same thing. DVDs are not babysitters, TV is not meant to babysit either. Parents need to monitor and join in. Like when my son watches Blues Clues I pretend not to know what the clue is and he'll laugh at me. When I watch the musical DVD with my daughter I cuddle with her and rock her. It's basically like storytime with the pictures moving and you not having to wear your voice out, but you still are able to point things out and are still able to bond with your child as long as you JOIN IN. Even though I do leave that TV on all day I do make sure I go in and sit with him at least two to three times a day.

[Solani Naleen]

I have the TV on alot right now. Mostly of cartoons for my son. He doesn't watch it much. He'd rather play with his toys or try and get into something that he's not supposed to. And I read to him every day. That and his Grandparents read to him every evening when they have him.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I think that using the TV as a babysitter or background noise will probably give your kids ADD or something. :) Kinda joking.

I don't plan on letting my kid watch TV until he's old enough to understand it, for one, and then it will be in small doses. I know people who let their kids as young as 2 or 3 wander around with Gameboys all day, play video games and watch lots of DVDs. They don't watch any TV (broadcast/cable) shows on their television. Generally the kids are spending more time playing video games together than doing anything else - with a time limit in place for each of them for the console games, but everyone watches when one of the others plays. (There are a lot of kids in this family).

Its my opinion that this has contributed to a family of mostly well-behaved children becoming a family of kids who yell a lot, jump/hit you when you visit, don't listen to their parents, and generally aren't that fun to be around. Because when you're letting your kids learn their values from a video game, or think that their value is that they are fantastic at a video game, you're not spending time one on one with them teaching them about life.

As far as sitting down and watching TV occasionally with your child, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. If its a sign language DVD or something and they're old enough to engage and like to work through it, then sure let them watch it alone. If we're talking a 2-3 yr old I would sit down with them and the DVD and help them understand what's going on. Learn it with them.

I don't think I'd read a small child scary fairy stories either, but everyone has their own world views and everyone is entitled to that! :) I was very easily scared as a child/adult (:lol) and have a very active imagination so I'd be very careful what I put into my kid's head right before they went to sleep.

These are only my opinions and not stated to offend anyone!!! :hug

[Kraehe Branwen]

I don't plan on letting my son play video games until he's a preteen. I don't like the fact that there are video games aimed for younger audiences. Its a little ridiculous. My ex actually took a pic of my son holding an Xbox controller when he was three months old before he took off. :rolleyes He even sent a toy for his christmas present one year that was some kind of video game system for babies. I think it was called a vsmile. No one tell him, but I returned the damn thing to the store. I didn't approve of it. He should have asked me before sending it. I'd rather my son play with toys and engage himself with those and make friends through that face to face rather than sit side by side and become a zombie in front of a video game. There is no friendship value in a video game. Plus I wouldn't be able to bond over a videogame with him either. Sure there are supposedly some educational video games but there is no way to bond over them. I can't interact with him with a video game.