I’m going to be an aunt for the first time come November, so suddenly, I care about children. And how I can enhance (or scar) their lives with entertainment. (Do I have to wait 16 years to empower my niece with the gift that is seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Grrr argh.) Anyway, that’s why I read this ABC News report titled Turn off the TV for Toddler’s Sake. You might find this hard to believe, but a recent study showed that children ages 1 to 3 have a difficult time tuning out the background noise of the television (the test show was Jeopardy!) and focusing on whatever they need to be doing (playing with educational toys, I’m guessing). "You actually can see sometimes more aimless behavior, walking around like they’re not quite sure what they’re going to do next," explained one coauthor of the study. The fear is that by distracting our children, we’re impeding their ability to learn. Makes sense, I guess.
So, what rules do you — or will you — have regarding kids and television? And if you were raised without TV, at what age did you become someone who would read PopWatch?
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My parents had a decent rule – we only got an hour a night of TV. Anything from 8-10 was fair game, but they had to approve as well.
My kids (ages 6 and 2.5) get to watch about 20 minutes of TV on weekday mornings after breakfast. Then on Friday and Saturday nights we have “movie night.” We usually watch the first half of a movie on Friday, then finish it on Saturday night.
Hey, if my 22-month-old would be interested in Jeopardy!, I’d be thrilled. Doubt she’d be able to answer any questions, though.
Yes, we do have the TV on occasionally. Last night, I told her I’d let her watch a DVD (she chose Ratatouille – or as she calls it, “mouse”) if she let me clip her nails… you’d be surprised the amount of bargaining I have to do to accomplish a toddler mani/pedi. What was cool is that she hadn’t watched it in a while, and it was the first time I’d seen her laughing at something she found funny on the screen. So there is discovery, learning, etc. through the TV. It’s really not that bad – but when we’re playing with toys, coloring or reading, the TV is off. One thing at a time, definitely.
My daughter was watching Buffy at age 7-she even did a little dance in the opening credits.
It never scared her. Now she watches Heroes and Lost-good TV.
I mean you just have to use your judgement-I wouldn’t let her watch Sex in The city. I think many parents are too uptight…it’s not that hard to figure out what your child can handle and what is appropriate
Hmm, the study showed children wandering around aimlessly, like they didn’t know what to do next? Maybe that’s because, oh, I don’t know, they’re CHILDREN? Have you ever seen a 1 to 3 year old at play? They’re distracted by everything – not just tv!
I was allowed to watch wishbone in elementary school, and Sabrina the teenage witch in middle school. I wasn’t allowed to watch real TV until 11th grade when I started watching The West Wing. I became a junkie in college which the dorm got cable. I don’t think I’ll let my kids watch TV for as long as humanly possible.
My 10 y.o. son watches just about anything on the Science Channel or Discovery. We love Nova Science Now on PBS. I am not going to refuse him watching anything educational. We do tend to TiVo the shows and then watch one each night, so there are no marathon 4-5 hour tv fests. He has also been watching the Tour de France this year, again nothing for me to complain about. He doesn’t like cartoons or WWF, so anything he does watch is generally fine with me.
I’m with you Patty! My 6 y/o daughter and I watch Mythbusters, How It’s Made, and Dirty Jobs. Other than a few awkward moments (the trout fishing segment on How It’s Made was a bit early for her, but we turned it into a learning experience), I wouldn’t give up this chance to have my daughter enthusiastic about science for anything!
I had a TV in my room by age 10 (which I bought with my own money). So I got to watch just about anything I wanted. When I was younger, my parents made sure to keep my sister and I busy. More stuff to do = less time for TV. Although, I did catch a few cartoons after school whenever I could.
Rule #1 Husband must turn off “The Godfather” whenever the kids walk in the room. This rule pertains to I, II & III.
Rule #1 Husband must turn off “The Godfather” whenever the kids walk in the room. This rule pertains to I, II & III.
My husband was without TV growing up. They went to the neighbor’s to watch the Olympics or other “big events.” Once he was out on his own, he became a TV addict. He still has hundreds of video tapes of things he taped, saved and never watches.
Sibs and I were allowed some TV, but none during the day in the summer. TV came on only after dinner. This was an attempt to get us outside playing, but instead, we stayed in our bedrooms reading. Considering some of the stuff we read, we’d have been better off watching TV.
My daughter was allowed to watch pretty much any PBS show or cartoon she wanted, and she was born just before The Simpsons came out, so yes, she grew up on The Simpsons. We watched TV together and discussed it during and after. I think a key is watching with the child, and not using TV as a babysitter. It also depends on the child, and what they can handle. Mine ended up as her HS class valedictorian, so TV can’t be all bad!
I let my son watch Buffy, too. He’ll be 8 in a couple of months. He loves horror/sci-fi, but I do monitor what he watches. I agree with the previous poster not to let the tv become a babysitter, but if you watch with them and talk about it with them, it can be educational. Mine falls asleep each night watching Star Wars. I think he’s destined for greatness.
My Catholic parents were actually stricter with movies than they were with TV. We grew up on Full House and Nick at Nite (back when they showed fun stuff like Green Acres and Get Smart). Also, when The Simpsons first came out and there was all the controversy, my parents watched it with us–and laughed.
The big issue was balance–we didn’t have an allotted amount of TV, but we also had to read (no hardship for me there, I loved reading) and play outside. Plus, we had dance classes during the year and theatre camp during the summer.
Now, I work for a children’s media nonprofit, where one of the things we do is teach parents how to watch TV with their kids and make it a learning experience.
I don’t have kids yet but I rememember not watching a lot of TV when I was as young as that. We didn’t even have cable until I was 12. I do remember Saturday morning cartoons and (ocasionnally) watching 60 minutes with my dad…but that was because I loved the tick-tick-tick sound of the stopwatch. After 12, it was max 2 hours a night.
The TV is always on but that doesn’t mean anyone is watching it. I have to have background noise. My kids tune in and out. They have no problem doing whatever they really want to do even if the tv is on. We only let them watch PBS, Disney or Nick without supervision. However how 5 year old son loves Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures. I also sometimes let him watch Lost with me. Both our boys loves to watch and play along with baseball games. I think it just depends on the kid. We certainly turn it off if things get out of hand.
I’m going to try to follow my brother’s model (he has older kids than me) in that, he didn’t let them watch TV during the day, but he’d let them watch news programs, reruns and PBS programs with him and his wife at night between 6 and 8 (the “dinner slot”). And, Saturday mornings, he totally let them watch cartoons. Otherwise, during the day, the kids are encouraged to play outside and be outside with other kids as much as possible. I’m all for kids learning from TV, but I do think it has an effect on concentration levels and desire to read, and I’d rather my kid grow up a little sullen about not getting to watch a show than uninterested in reading or playing.
I Tivo kids shows (Wonder Pets–love them!, Backyardigans, Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow, Babar, Max and Ruby) that I divvy out to my 4 and 2 year olds when ‘we’ need them. Also, the Tivo gives me the opportunity to FF through the commercials, which is key.
I also occasionally let my 4 year join me for American Idol and So you think you can dance….some of the oversexualized comments are bothersome, but for the most part she is more focused on the singing and dancing. I don’t tend to let her watch the earlier episodes where there is a lot of making fun of the losers, because it can get mean-spirited. But the later eps. are a lot of fun to watch together.
As for t.v. in the background, Sunday morning news shows are the only time when I want to watch my stuff and the kids are in and out of the room not really paying attention.
I’ve been trying to figure out how to say this, so I’ll do a two-parter. First my baby nephew: though he is only 10 months old he has to watch his Backyardigans, including in the car. Fortunately he loves basketball and watched it all season, plus since he started crawling he found there is more in the world to do and find out how it works.
For most of elementary school, we were allowed one hour of TV per night witha rotating schedule of who got to choose the program and Wednesday night was “Reading Night”. I felt it was torture and now I am a TV addict. But now that I am getting ready to start a family of my own, I appreciate what my parents were doing and hope that I will be able to do the same with my children (and set a better example by cutting back myself…god help me…)
Part 2: Growing up in the Seventies meant Saturday mornings spent with Sid & Marty Kroft and Superfriends. But I also watched PBS and the Muppet Show. With an older brother, I was tuned into Star Trek and the three stoges. Though there was compromise during prime time because, GASP, there was only one TV, we did have to get approval, and homework checked before watching. One thing: even though you might not know what your kids are watching, they do see what you watch and your reaction. I still can’t the Sunday news shows because my Mom argues with the TV.
We needed a study to tell us that our toddlers were unable to tune out tv? Have these people never spent time with children? Heck, it doesn’t even stop with my toddlers – the older kids are the same. If the tv goes on they come like moths to light. What really drives me crazy is when we are in restaurants where there are TVs as part of the decor. Doesn’t matter what is on (usually sports and commercials) and they just can’t help but look.
My parents never restricted my tv cuz I was a good, smart kid who loved tv for the stories. I’m sure they rolled their eyes at some of the stuff I watched, but I never watched anything I would have been embarrassed to watch with my parents in the room. If kids respect their parents, they’ll know where the line is. Although one time my dad walked in the room while my sister and I were watching the Miss USA pageant, and he was very disappointed in us. “I always thought if I had daughters, they’d be feminists and wouldn’t watch this stuff.” I love my dad. I should add that we were too poor for cable. My husband and I get “free” cable now, but by the time I have a kid, we probably won’t have cable at all. That’s the way to go, I think.
I grew up wathching tv, it was practically my babysitter. My brother and I shared one tv and we used to (literally) fight over it. I’m talking about broken furniture, blood having to be washed up fights. We both still watch tons of tv, only on tivo and online. Now I’m in law school and he’s on his way to owning his own business. We both turned out ok (though anecdote =/= trend).
This is a tough one. I watched waaaaay too much TV as a kid of the 80s, and I consider myself a fairly successful, if moderately social-phobic, person. I find it hard to read books from beginning to end, unless they are on audio CD, and I get easily bored…Um, where was I going with this?
I watched an insanely ridiculous amount of TV growing up. My niece recently, in front of her parents, asked me if I thought she should have a TV in her room. She was sure I’d say yes, since I’m an avowed TV junkie and a pretty cool aunt. I said absolutely not. There was no Internet when I was growing up, and no one worried about child predators, so even with all the TV I watched, I still played outside. My niece and nephews NEVER LEAVE THE HOUSE, unless it’s for a scheduled activity. TV for kids is ok, but with reasonable limits.
I watch TV with the kids, but for birthdays and holidays I won’t buy them video games or DVDs (with the one recent exception of Guitar Hero, because it really is just too cool).
Mandi, congrats on the Aunt thing. I’ve been one for 13 years, and I love it.
I wasn’t a major TV junkie when I was *really* young. I didn’t watch too much TV during the school week except for MacGuyver, Rescue 911, & whatever my parents happened to be glimpsing. The only night I gorged on TV was Fridays on ABC for TGIF (Perfect Strangers, Full House, Family Matters, AFV, etc.). My sisters & I watched 8mm movie videos in my parents’ room usually about once a week.
THEN we got cable when I was 10, ostensibly for the soccer World Cup in the US. I became a total addict that summer- I was glued to Nick and my mom still hates GUTS! and Legends of the Hidden Temple. My parents would tell us to watch less TV but I don’t think it negatively affected me, other than I never want to sleep since I’ve always been addicted to reading and sports as well. Bought my own TV with refereeing money at 14 & watched old movies late at night on AMC after finishing homework. I’ve always been pretty self-motivated, so my rabid TV/ movie addiction has only resulted in less sleep!
When I was really little I watched Sesame Street and that was IT. Even in Jr. High I could only watch one-hour a day except for special things like “The Civil War” (which I just checked and apparently I was 12 when it aired).
Once I got to H.S. and didn’t have rules I still didn’t watch too much except “Picket Fences” and my sister and I were obsessed with DOOL that we taped on VHS and watched after volleyball practice.
This is exactly the rule I would have with my kids. Also, we went to the movies a lot – that was fun!
I always find it interesting that television and teachers are some of the worst things to happen to kids, but parents are never held accountable for anything that happens to their own children.
Mandi – judging by your entries on PopWatch, you’ve got enough common sense and more than enough between your ears to make the best decisions. I watched a lot of TV, but I also read a lot, and my parents paid attention to me, but didn’t run every second of my life. I’m fairly well adjusted and I can function in society. There are those around me here at work who could use a little mindless TV in their lives and those who can stop giving me the 2-hr daily recaps of what they watched last night.
I know my mom already wrote a comment on here about me, but I was allowed to watch pretty much anything on tv. We only had 6 stations, so there were only so many options. Usually when I came home from school, I turned on the tv, and it didn’t go off until the parents went to bed, but I actually think watching the amount of tv I did helped me memory. I quickly learned the tv schedule from 3:00pm to 9 or 10, (or starting at 7am if it was summer) and remembered plenty of things that were happening on my favorite shows, that I can remember to this day.