I think we need more information. If the television is being used as a babysitter, that's one thing. Or if the adult in the house is watching their soap opera and the children just happen to be exposed to it, I'm totally against this.
But if the television is on for a couple hours a day of child-based television, I'd have no problem with that. Educational shows made especially for children entertain while teaching. I watched both my siblings learn to read by age 3 just by watching Sesame Street, the Electric Company and Mister Rogers. We always had a house full of books, but they learned to read even more quickly than they would have normally.
I worry more about the daycare centers that are on the high end of the average (for an average to be 2.4 hours, it stands to reason that some daycare centers are on either end of that spectrum, meaning some never have the television on and some may have it on for many more hours.
On the other hand, my sister raised 3 of her 4 kids without daycare, and she often had the television on during the day. A day includes so many things -- baths, meals, playtime, cleanup and naps, on an endless loop -- that sometimes television was the only entity in the room speaking in a grownup voice! I would venture a guess that many stay-at-home parents depend on the television at least a couple hours a day just to make contact with the outside world!
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I think we need more information. If the television is being used as a babysitter, that's one thing. Or if the adult in the house is watching their soap opera and the children just happen to be exposed to it, I'm totally against this.
But if the television is on for a couple hours a day of child-based television, I'd have no problem with that. Educational shows made especially for children entertain while teaching. I watched both my siblings learn to read by age 3 just by watching Sesame Street, the Electric Company and Mister Rogers. We always had a house full of books, but they learned to read even more quickly than they would have normally.
I worry more about the daycare centers that are on the high end of the average (for an average to be 2.4 hours, it stands to reason that some daycare centers are on either end of that spectrum, meaning some never have the television on and some may have it on for many more hours.
On the other hand, my sister raised 3 of her 4 kids without daycare, and she often had the television on during the day. A day includes so many things -- baths, meals, playtime, cleanup and naps, on an endless loop -- that sometimes television was the only entity in the room speaking in a grownup voice! I would venture a guess that many stay-at-home parents depend on the television at least a couple hours a day just to make contact with the outside world!
December 1, 2009 - 8:30amThis Comment
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