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Is it OK for babies to watch TV?
Posted by dallers • Tuesday, 2007-August-14
The effect of television on children, especially on babies, is an intensely controversial subject. Every year rafts of studies and statistics appear about children's television habits, and some of them may seem alarming.
The average American child watches about four hours of television a day [Source: AAP], while 20 percent of children under 2 have televisions in their rooms. Among babies 3 months old and younger, 40 percent watch TV, with the percentage increasing significantly for children age 2 and younger [Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer]. A study in 2003 found that children 6 months to 6 years old spend an average of two hours a day dealing with "screen media" like televisions, computers and video games [Source: CBS News]. The study also revealed a correlation between time spent watching television and difficulty reading.
Many of these studies have led doctors, educators and other experts to recommend curbing a child's TV consumption. The campaign received another shot in the arm when a study released in early August 2007 showed that baby-oriented video programs like "Baby Einstein" and "Brainy Baby" may harm child development. These videos, which are widely available on VHS and DVD, contain little dialogue, instead relying on juxtaposed images that frequently aren't related to one another or are difficult to explain. (The study cites lava lamps as one example of an image or concept that's hard to explain to a baby.) But the videos are tremendously popular: The "Baby Einstein" series has earned more than $500 million in revenue [Source: Boston Globe] and Disney purchased the company in 2001 [Source: Denver Post].
Many parents say that they use these videos like babysitters, turning on a "Baby Einstein" DVD for their children so that mom and dad can clean up the house, prepare dinner or take care of other chores. But the problem, researchers say, is that these videos don't provide the benefits they claim, and they may even do harm.
The problem lies not only in the videos' content -- little dialogue or interactivity and rapidly changing images -- but also with how babies' brains develop. A child's brain is very sensitive before age 2. It's still developing neural connections and growing in size. Because of this sensitivity, it's important for babies to have a lot of interactive stimulation to learn and develop. The researchers contend that the videos don't provide this stimulation.
The average American child watches about four hours of television a day [Source: AAP], while 20 percent of children under 2 have televisions in their rooms. Among babies 3 months old and younger, 40 percent watch TV, with the percentage increasing significantly for children age 2 and younger [Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer]. A study in 2003 found that children 6 months to 6 years old spend an average of two hours a day dealing with "screen media" like televisions, computers and video games [Source: CBS News]. The study also revealed a correlation between time spent watching television and difficulty reading.
Many of these studies have led doctors, educators and other experts to recommend curbing a child's TV consumption. The campaign received another shot in the arm when a study released in early August 2007 showed that baby-oriented video programs like "Baby Einstein" and "Brainy Baby" may harm child development. These videos, which are widely available on VHS and DVD, contain little dialogue, instead relying on juxtaposed images that frequently aren't related to one another or are difficult to explain. (The study cites lava lamps as one example of an image or concept that's hard to explain to a baby.) But the videos are tremendously popular: The "Baby Einstein" series has earned more than $500 million in revenue [Source: Boston Globe] and Disney purchased the company in 2001 [Source: Denver Post].
Many parents say that they use these videos like babysitters, turning on a "Baby Einstein" DVD for their children so that mom and dad can clean up the house, prepare dinner or take care of other chores. But the problem, researchers say, is that these videos don't provide the benefits they claim, and they may even do harm.
The problem lies not only in the videos' content -- little dialogue or interactivity and rapidly changing images -- but also with how babies' brains develop. A child's brain is very sensitive before age 2. It's still developing neural connections and growing in size. Because of this sensitivity, it's important for babies to have a lot of interactive stimulation to learn and develop. The researchers contend that the videos don't provide this stimulation.
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Smokin Dope
Two guys get busted for smoking dope, so they have to go into court on a Friday. They go to court and the judge says, "If you can convince more than 5 people to stop doing drugs for the rest of their lives, you wont be sent to jail." So the two men agree and the judge tells them to come back on Monday.
So the two guys come back on Monday and the judge asks how they did.
I got 17 people to get off drugs, says the first guy.
Wow, howd you do that? asks the judge.
I used circles. I told them that this large circle is your brain before drugs and this small circle is your brain after drugs.
Oh, thats nothing!" said the second guy. "I convinced 156 people to get off drugs.
Wow. Howd you do that? asked the judge.
Well, I used circles too. I told them this small circle is your butthole before prison...