NY Times Article: Parents Urged Again to Limit TV for Youngest

[Ayesha Nicole]

Parents Urged Again to Limit TV for Youngest

Watching TV while a parent is busy: Video screen time has no educational benefits for young children, a report says.

By BENEDICT CAREY
Published: October 18, 2011

Parents of infants and toddlers should limit the time their children spend in front of televisions, computers, self-described educational games and even grown-up shows playing in the background, the American Academy of Pediatrics  warned on Tuesday. Video screen time provides no educational benefits for children under age 2 and leaves less room for activities that do, like interacting with other people and playing, the group said.

The recommendation, announced at the group’s annual convention in Boston, is less stringent than its first such warning, in 1999, which called on parents of young children to all but ban television watching for children under 2 and to fill out a “media history” for doctor’s office visits. But it also makes clear that there is no such thing as an educational program for such young children, and that leaving the TV on as background noise, as many households do, distracts both children and adults.

“We felt it was time to revisit this issue because video screens are everywhere now, and the message is much more relevant today that it was a decade ago,” said Dr. Ari Brown, a pediatrician in Austin, Tex., and the lead author of the academy’s policy, which appears in the current issue of the journal Pediatrics .

Dr. Brown said the new policy was less restrictive because “the Academy took a lot of flak for the first one, from parents, from industry, and even from pediatricians asking, ‘What planet do you live on?’ ” The recommendations are an attempt to be more realistic, given that, between TVs, computers, iPads and smartphones, households may have 10 or more screens.

The worry that electronic entertainment is harmful to development goes back at least to the advent of radio and has steadily escalated through the age of “Gilligan’s Island” and 24-hour cable TV to today, when nearly every child old enough to speak is plugged in to something while their parents juggle iPads and texts. So far, there is no evidence that exposure to any of these gadgets causes long-term developmental problems, experts say.

Still, recent research makes it clear that young children learn a lot more efficiently from real interactions — with people and things — than from situations appearing on video screens. “We know that some learning can take place from media” for school-age children, said Georgene Troseth, a psychologist at Peabody College at Vanderbilt University, “but it’s a lot lower, and it takes a lot longer.”

Unlike school-age children, infants and toddlers “just have no idea what’s going on” no matter how well done a video is, Dr. Troseth said.

The new report strongly warns parents against putting a TV in a very young child’s room and advises them to be mindful of how much their own use of media is distracting from playtime. In some surveys between 40 and 60 percent of households report having a TV on for much of the day — which distracts both children and adults, research suggests.

“What we know from recent research on language development is that the more language that comes in — from real people — the more language the child understands and produces later on,” said Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek, a professor of psychology  at Temple University.

After the academy’s recommendation was announced, the video industry said parents, not professional organizations, were the best judges. Dan Hewitt, a spokesman for the Entertainment Software Association , said in an e-mail that the group has a “long and recognized record of educating parents about video game content and emphasizing the importance of parental awareness and engagement.”

“We believe that parents should be actively involved in determining the media diets of their children,” he said.

Few parents of small children trying to get through a day can resist plunking the youngsters down in front of the screen now and then, if only so they can take a shower — or check their e-mail.

“We try very hard not to do that, but because both me and my husband work, if we’re at home and have to take a work call, then yes, I’ll try to put her in front of ‘Sesame Street ’ for an hour,” Kristin Gagnier, a postgraduate student in Philadelphia, said of her 2-year-old daughter. “But she only stays engaged for about 20 minutes.”

In one survey, 90 percent of parents said their children under 2 watched some from of media, whether a TV show like “Yo Gabba Gabba!” or a favorite iPhone  app. While some studies find correlations between overall media exposure and problems with attention and language, no one has determined for certain which comes first.

The new report from the pediatrics  association estimates that for every hour a child under 2 spends in front of a screen, he or she spends about 50 minutes less interacting with a parent, and about 10 percent less time in creative play. It recommends that doctors discuss setting “media limits” for babies and toddlers with parents, though it does not specify how much time is too much.

“As always, the children who are most at risk are exactly the very many children in our society who have the fewest resources,” Alison Gopnik, a psychologist at the University of California, said in an e-mail.

---

A version of this article appeared in print on October 19, 2011, on page A18 of the New York edition with the headline: Parents Urged Again To Limit TV For Youngest.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/health/19babies.html?_r=1

[Ayesha Nicole]

Since my children are now 4 years, I found this article interesting written by:

John Medina, Ph.D.
Developmental molecular biologist;
author, 'Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five'
Posted: November 18, 2010 08:22 AM

How Much TV Should Kids Be Allowed To Watch? (VIDEO)

The issue of kids' exposure to TV doesn't throw off as many sparks as it used to. There is general agreement that a child's exposure to television of any type should be limited. There is also general agreement that we are completely ignoring this advice. I remember as a kid waiting every Sunday night for Walt Disney's "Wonderful World of Color" to come on, and loving it. I also remember my parents turning off the television when it was over. We don't do that anymore.

Americans two years of age and older now spend an average of four hours and 49 minutes per day in front of the TV -- 20 percent more than 10 years ago. And we are getting this exposure at younger and younger ages, made all the more complex because of the wide variety of digital screen time now available. In 2003, 77 percent of kids under six watched television every day. And children younger than two got two hours and five minutes of "screen time" with TVs and computers per day.

What effect might this have on our children's brains? It's not good news.

For decades we have known of the connection between hostile peer interactions and the amount of kids' exposure to television. The linkage used to be controversial (maybe aggressive people watch more TV than others), but we now see that it's an issue of our deferred-imitation abilities, coupled with a loss of impulse control. One personal example: When I was in kindergarten, my best friend and I were watching "The Three Stooges," a 1950s TV show. The program involved lots of physical comedy, including people sticking their fingers in other people's eyes. When the show was over, my friend fashioned his little fingers into a V, then quickly poked me in both eyes. I couldn't see anything for the next hour and was soon whisked to the emergency room. Diagnosis: scratched corneas and a torn eye muscle.

Other examples come from studies that looked at bullying, attentions spans and the ability to focus, and secondhand exposure to TV. Watch this video to find out the results:

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/15646651?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0" width="400" height="225" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen allowFullScreen></iframe><p> <a href="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=15646651&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;fullscreen=1&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=01AAEA" target="_blank">http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=15646651&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;fullscreen=1&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=01AAEA</a> from Pear Press on Vimeo.</p>

Disturbing stuff. Since the first studies on television, researchers have discovered that not everything about TV is negative. The effect depends upon the content of the TV show, the age of the child, and perhaps even the child's genetics. Before age two, TV is best avoided completely. That includes videos that claim to be baby brain-boosters. (More on that, and video games, in my new book, "Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart, Happy Child from Zero to Five.")

After age five, the jury is out on this harsh verdict -- way out, in fact. Some television shows improve brain performance at this age. Not surprisingly, these shows tend to be the interactive types ("Dora the Explorer," good; "Barney and Friends," bad, according to certain studies). So, although the case is overwhelming that television exposure should be limited, TV cannot be painted with a monolithic brush.

Here are a few recommendations for TV viewing the data suggest:

Keep the TV off before the child turns two. I know this is tough to hear for parents who need a break. If you can't turn it off -- if you haven't created those social networks that can allow you a rest -- at least limit your child's exposure to TV. We live in the real world, after all, and an irritated, overextended parent can be just as harmful to a child's development as an annoying purple dinosaur.

After age two, help your children choose the shows (and other screen-based exposures) they will experience. Pay special attention to any media that allow intelligent interaction.
Watch the chosen TV show with your kids, interacting with the media, helping them to analyze and think critically about what they just experienced. And keep the TV out of the kids' room: Kids with their own TVs score an average of eight points lower on math and language-arts tests than those in households with TVs in the family room.

More parenting videos on brainrules.net detail key insights from the book, from how to deal with temper tantrums to the surprising way a "cookie test" can predict SAT scores.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-medina-phd/how-much-tv-should-kids-be-allowed_b_779988.html

[kauaiheidi]

I'd love to have Dr. Ari Brown visit our forum.  I'll try to invite her, however, I'm not sure the best way to contact her.  Here are some of her own comments:

Today was a busy day as the lead author (I think I drew the short straw!) on a newly released American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement regarding media use in children under age two. The news reports are everywhere, but I thought it would be helpful to provide additional insight here.
 
The AAP has discouraged media use in young children since 1999 (pre-dating most forms of portable screens like iPads and smartphones). It was based on limited data, but we believed that there were more potential negatives of media than positives in this age group. And since 1999, the policy has taken flak from parents, industry, and even some pediatricians. Many ask, “Where’s the harm?” if a baby is entertained by a video so a parent can make dinner or take a shower.
 
But, the concerns raised are even more relevant today. Screens are everywhere, and 90% of 0-23 month olds watch at least an hour of televised programs a day. So we decided to take a fresh look at the scientific evidence and see if our concerns were still valid. Here are the key questions and answers we found:
 
#1. Do infant/toddler programs have any educational value for kids under 2?
 
Nope. There is a digital developmental divide. Video gets “lost in translation” for children under 1.5—2.5 years old. They can’t figure out the content or context to actually learn from televised programs. While a few 18 month olds might “get it”, the majority of kids don’t have that skill until they are at least 2. Entertaining? Yes. Educational? No. Young children learn best from real people and playing with real objects. Kids over age two can learn language and social skills from high quality shows.
 
#2. Is there any harm in children under 2 watching televised programs?
 
There are 3 concerns here.
 
1) Short-term language delays. Young children who watch televised programs may have delayed language skills. Why? We don’t know. One concern is that parents talk less to their kids when the TV is on, and that “talk time” is critical for young children to learn language. We don’t have any long-term studies to see how this plays out, but the short-term effects are concerning.
 
2) Less quality and quantity of sleep. Up to 1/3 of American kids under age 3 have a TV in their bedroom and up to 30% of parents admit to using TV as a sleep aid for their child. However, this backfires as kids go to bed later and have more disrupted sleep when they go to bed with the tube on.
 
3) Time well spent? We know you can’t play with your child 24/7 but letting your child have unplugged, unstructured, independent playtime while you cook dinner is really valuable! It fosters your child’s problem solving skills and her imagination—important life tools. That is time better spent than being entertained by a program. (Check out the tips below for what your little one can be doing while you’re busy doing something else.)
 
#3. Does secondhand TV (programs intended for adults that are on when a child is in the room) affect young children?
 
Yes. It is distracting for parents, who are talking less to their child when their shows are on. And it is distracting for the child. Even if the show is over a child’s head, he will be less focused on his activity if he is playing nearby with the TV on. And many parents say their TV is always or often on, even when no one is watching it (which begs the question, WHY?). Our advice: turn the TV off if you aren’t watching anyway, and watch your own shows later.
 

We know you can’t keep your child away from screens 100% of the time, and we know you can’t play with your child 24/7, but this updated statement is meant to make parents more aware of the impact of media on young children so that they will thoughtfully consider the whole family’s media use and make a plan how to manage it!
 
As promised, here are some ideas for simple, inexpensive activities that your infant or young child can do without your participation.  Remember that as your baby starts to crawl, use a portable playpen or safety gates to keep your child in a safe area if your eyes are distracted. And make sure all toys are too large and impossible to swallow or chew.
 
Sensory Activities
 ■For young infants, offer interesting items like colorful or high-contrast toys or mobiles to look or follow with their eyes.
 ■Let your baby listen to music. Let your older baby or young child play with rattles, or child-friendly music boxes.
 ■Offer safe objects or toys that are touchable with different textures.
 ■Offer large plastic toys, wood, or plush toys without small removable pieces to grab, manipulate, and mouth.
 
Cognitive/Language
 ■Let your baby explore hard cardboard books that are bite and rip-proof.
 ■Offer “cause and effect” toys. Let your baby figure out how to make an object light up or make noise or move.
 ■Toys that can be filled and dumped are also popular with young children.
 


Social
 ■Let your baby play with a plastic mirror to look at herself.
 ■Offer pretend play props to children over age one (pretend food, picnicware, teacups, a grocery cart, baby doll, or baby carriage).
 ■Let your child participate in activities of daily living. While you are cooking, let your baby “cook” his own meal on the floor with pots and pans. While you are cleaning up, let him “clean up” with his own towel.
 
Large and small muscles
 ■Infants as young as three months can play with an activity gym to bat/grab objects.
 ■Offer old measuring cups, plastic food containers, pots, pans, wooden spatulas to explore.
 ■Let your older baby play with a big ball to roll, kick, or throw.
 ■Stacking cups or “nesting cups” are good for using small muscles and figuring out how to stack. Shape sorters (cylinders with plastic shapes and matching holes in the top) are another classic toy for toddlers to encourage eye-hand coordination.
 
Comments by Dr. Ari Brown

[Maquenzie]

I'm curious what scope of media was deemed "over the heads" of the under 2 crowd.

Barney, Sesame Street, typical kids tv shows.  I agree.

Something like baby signing time or preschool prep, I think can absolutely be educational for very small kids.

[kauaiheidi]

Here is the link to Dr. Ari Brown's blog "Baby Educational TV. An Oxymoron?" (text in my post above):

https://windsorpeak.com/sites/baby411/2011/10/18/educational-tv-infants%e2%80%94an-oxymoron/

As Dr. Ari Brown is a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics I think it would be great to have a disscussion with her on early learning programs.

[Sarah108]

I tend to agree with Maquenzie

In order to EXERCISE the right side of the brain, according Shichida, it is important to flash images at a child, less than one second at a time. If these iamges are flashed using a TV, I believe that their brains are still being exercised. - eg Tweedlewink or sparkabilities.

I would LOVE for these experts to comment on the above, as it would be interesting to see what they have to say about that.

Any comments?

[momagain]

Okay, I think I have a unique experience that may discount, only in an anecdotal way though, this stuff about it being over children's heads.

In the last 7 months, I've had two toddlers (foster children).  Both I got at at almost 16 months old.  One left at 19mo and the other is about to leave at 20mo. Both left knowing some of their letter sounds (the first one knew almost every one).  They also both left being able to read several spanish words, pointing out body parts, trying to make the sounds themselves (though both came to me non-verbal).  We did some numbers with the first one. 

The reason I think this may be telling?  These are children considered "disadvantaged."  They both experienced domestic violence.  The first one had been in no less than eight home in his first 16months and had a very troubled big brother.  They were both under the stress of having been removed from their families and everything that goes with that (and we know that stress generally is not conducive to learning). 

With the help of a tv and computer, they gained skills and knowledge they did not have before.  And I've used these same things with another child who still remembered much of the information and how it was presented years later (he's now 8 and excelling in school). 

Now, I will say that we didn't use it to the degree many people do.  The tv is on less than 3 hours per week here.  The kids have even more limited time on the computer, my phone, etc.  I found it interesting that they seemed to learn very fast by having more access at first with some more spotty reinforcement long term.

If we got another young child (we don't expect to take another child under 5), I most certainly would focus a bit more on this which very well may mean a little more screen time. 

Oh, one thing I don't like is that they are saying that the screen time takes away from parental interaction.  Fact is that while mom is in the shower or checking her email, the interaction is already considerably lessened, if not cut off.  Using transition times, times mom is doing something else, etc makes sense. I think it would be dangerous to set a child in front of a screen five hours per day so mom can play some online game; but I don't see any issue at all for the child to be watching his reading video while mom does her make up before they go about their day.

[fma001]

The problem here is making a blanket statement: there are absolutely no TV shows that provide educational value for under 2s. But no evidence is being offered to back up this claim. They would have to test every single TV show aimed at under 2s. This hasn't been done, so the statement is an assumption, rather than a fact. A lot of kids are being parked in front of shows that aren't educational and that most likely isn't good for them. But all TV use is being condemned because many parents use it inappropriately.

There is no doubt that "young children learn a lot more efficiently from real interactions" than from screens. And I think screen time is going to be much more effective when a parent interacts. But parents can't interact with their kids every second of the day. I used to show YBCR every day, while I prepared dinner. I wasn't going to be interacting much at this time anyway. And my child did learn from the show. TV is neither good nor bad. It's how you use it that matters.

[TeachingMyToddlers]

TV is a just another medium. Kids ARE learning from TV. The question is, are learning characters names, violence, and crude language from cartoons aimed for a much older crowd? Or are they learning shapes, colors, numbers, and words, possibly in multiple languages?

The other thing is that the AMOUNT of information and the way it's presented in such a short time simply is not realistic or affordable for a parent to physical present in that same 30 minutes (Printing out masses of flashcards, collecting items to show in person versus on screen, doing random fractions or showing dots up to a million, etc). And I agree with the statement that there are times of the day that simply allow for less interaction. When I'm trying to get ready in the morning and I need to do my hair and makeup, etc., I have NO GUILT over showing an educational DVD. My son randomly spews forth all kinds of knowledge that he has undoubtedly learning from "screen time."  He is just now becoming more verbal and constantly surprises us with what he knows. Today he was skip counting to 100. He's 22 months old. Both of my kids learned their letters & letter sounds from YouTube videos & Preschool Prep in about a month each, around 13-15 months old.

OF COURSE kids can learn from screen time! A healthy balance is what's needed.

[kauaiheidi]

Dr. Ari Brown (lead author of the recent AAP policy statement on media use for young children) may not join our forum, however, she does read comments posted on her blog.  So if you'd like to share your experience with screen-based early learning programs with her check out:

https://windsorpeak.com/sites/baby411/2011/10/18/educational-tv-infants%e2%80%94an-oxymoron/

[Mae_Jakob_Ka]

TeachingMyToddlers - That was a fantastic post. I like that a lot. I strongly agree that the contents you let your child watch is important.
My child learns a lot from what he watches on TV. He learns phonics, sign languages, and many more.

TV and computer are  good tools to help me teach my child different subjects, and of course he is not watching TV all days. I monitor what he is watching and not more than 2 hours / day. 

Oh, and I don't feel guilty if I have let him watch TV by himself when I have to fix dinner, clean my house, and finish whatever I need to do before I return my full attention to him. Hey I am not a super human mom here. I can't sit or play with him 24/7. I am just a regular mom who wants the best for my child and try to find balance and use whatever aids available...and sure enough TV/Computer is one of them!

Cheers,

Elle

[Dr_Mommy]

I completely agree too, Elle. Screen time in moderation is good (and completely necessary, in our time and day). I only started off Early Education with my LO's when they were 19mo and 8mo, and I'm not ashamed to say that I started off with LR/LM, YBCR, Preschool Prep and EK via Power Point. All using my PC. I also did flashcards with them, and tonnes of play, so it wasn't ALL screen time. And the difference I see in them then and now is tremendous(in a good way), huge boost in vocab/ can read some words/knows colours,shapes/knows numbers etc...

It all depends on WHAT KINDA TV is played for the child, and of course the duration. Too much of the good thing is never good anyway...

[Chdevtv]

I agree with the AAP however the blanket statement against TV seems insufficient. Some programs are clearly more educational and developmental than others.

Has anyone seen more granular programming recommendations from the AAP?

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