To TV or Not to TV

Have you read it? It was front page news...According to the American Academy of Pediatricians television viewing for those under 2 can have "negative effects." The article claims it MAY cause language delays, as well as negative effects on learning, language, play, mood and behavior. Do you agree?


I Don't.

That being said, I do not think there is much that is detrimental to you....in MODERATION. I grew up watching cartoons, and Disney movies over and over...and over and over again. I also grew up reading books and playing outside. I think that as long as you don't use your TV as a babysitter, and keep you child active so they don't become fatty couch potatoes, no harm done.

Since not one article shows any ACTUAL data I argue that correlation does NOT equal a cause. The majority of the USA is over weight. Cause? McDonald's? TV? No, it is personal habit. Most likely TAUGHT and NURTURED by a parent. Come on parents! It is time to get active and stop using your laziness as an excuse for your child's short comings.

If I am an parent who sits on my couch all day watching soaps eating chips and cookies, drinking soda, not paying any attention to my child, not talking to them, taking them out to experience the world OF COURSE s/he is going to have a smaller vocabulary, be more over weight, and have a harder time interacting with other people. That does not mean the TV is to blame. The TV didn't tie me down to the couch, shove food down my throat so I couldn't communicate with my child or take them to the park.

One person I spoke with that is pro-no TV said that they believed that TV was bad because of "all the talking, babies couldn't differentiate the difference between reality and fantasy" WTF? Seriously? It's a damn baby, an amazing baby, but a baby. They poop and eat EVERYTHING that ends up in their hands. They only know what they can hold and see. As for MY opinion on the "noise." What culture is quiet... NO talking? In fact, how did our ancestors get anything done with babies? They hid them in their caves? Nooooo they carried them around, wore their babies as they picked berries and farmed. Did they do this silently? Noooooo. Did the babies grow up to be idiots? Nooooo Did the babies never sleep because people were talking? Noooo

Here is my conclusion. TV is not going to harm your child, YOU are going to harm your child IF you don't keep moderation and common sense in your lives.

A little psych lesson to end the night:
Schema is everything that you know. Grass is green= schema. That fuzzy thing=dog=schema. You like grapes=schema. EVERYthing you know is call schema. The more you are exposed to the more connections you make to your schema. The more connections the "smarter" you are.

FACT: Adults that were blind and can corrective surgery almost always can not be taught to see. Children born blind who have corrective surgery can almost always been taught to see. WHY?? Their brains are still developing.

My advice: expose your children to EVERYTHING (use common sense) they may not understand a Dali painting, but they are seeing it, it is forming a schema in their brain. Maybe they relate it to art, maybe they relate it to you, maybe they see the color red, and they match that with their red bear, and when they see an apple its red. Whatever makes those connections stronger is beneficial to you and your child.


Your welcome. xoxo