Television: Is it Good for our Kids?

by Rebecca Thompson, M.S.

My 8 year-old had just watched the movie we had agreed he could watch during his afternoon movie time. I have been planning this into our daily schedule so that I can have the break I need to stay regulated as a homeschooling mom. It was time to turn off the movie and I could see the whites of my son’s eyes as I reminded him it was time to move on to our next activity. He was incredibly dysregulated and demanded that he watch another movie. I took a deep breath and found myself questioning whether this actually helped me in my quest for regulation or not when this was, more often than not, what I encountered after screen time. This was usually followed by more dysregulation and aggression toward his younger brother and I usually ended up feeling more stressed than I did before movie time. I wondered why this was the case, so I set out to learn more about it.

Television can be a touchy subject for many parents and it doesn’t help that many experts disagree regarding specific recommendations for viewing. Our children with trauma histories tend to be more sensitive in many ways, so let’s look at the recommendations with our children in mind to find something that will meet the needs of your child and your individual family.

Fact: The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that children watch no more than two hours of quality television per day. According to their survey, most American children watch closer to four hours of television per day.

How much time does your child spend watching television each day? And what shows are they watching? Keep a television log, preferably together with your child, for one week. Is it more or less than the recommended amount? Are the programs your child is watching “quality?”

Fact: The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends NO screen time at all for children under 3. This includes “educational” videos, television programs, and computer games.

If you have a child in this age bracket, how much time does she spend watching television? This is such an important time for building attachment and connection. Children need to be interacting with a loving caregiver to learn about the world through your modeling and by doing. The best video in the world cannot do as much for a child’s social, emotional, and intellectual development as spending part of the afternoon making and playing with homemade play-dough. Or for younger children, simply being carried with you in a sling or other soft carrier as you go about your work can provide lots of bonding and learning opportunities.

If your child’s emotional age is 2 or under, it might be best to totally avoid television or limit it to special occasions. Use the time to make up for the connection your child needed, but didn’t get, and to address those unmet developmental needs with activities that will help build connection.

Fact: According to the AAP, children in the United States see 40,000 commercials each year. Young children don’t know the difference between programming and commercials.

Many European countries ban advertising to children because of this. For this reason, many parents choose to only use videos or DVDs, which eliminates (for the most part) the barrage of advertisements.

Again, if your child’s emotional age is below 7, chances are high that they are unable to differentiate between content and commercials. This makes them more susceptible to the negative effects of advertising.

Fact: The average American child will witness 200,000 violent acts on television by age 18.

Content is especially important to consider for our children. For those children who are already in a state of fear due to early life experiences, imagine what can happen when the fear they feel is mirrored by what they are watching on television? Children who watch violence on television are more likely to view the world as a dangerous place. We’re working hard to help our children see the world as safe, so we need to be aware of the input from screens, too.

Another consideration is that what might be okay for a “typical” 10 year-old might be scary for the 10 year-old with an emotional age of 4. We can pay attention to how our child feels and acts after they have watched particular programs and make adjustments as necessary.

Fact: Television viewing has been linked to obesity.

Partially due to the fact that they are sitting and not up moving their bodies and partially due to the advertisements that promote unhealthy foods, children who watch more than 4 hours of television per day are at a significantly higher risk of obesity. Have you ever seen a commercial for an apple? How about a nice healthy bunch of kale? Children are influenced by what they see. Ask yourself if TV is modeling the behaviors you are encouraging in your child.

Fact: Television affects children’s neurology.

On a purely neurological level, the lights and flashes of our highly edited television shows can cause disturbances in our children’s brains. Have you ever tried to talk to your child who is watching television and they don’t appear to hear what you’re saying? They’re actually hypnotized, literally engulfed and overwhelmed by sensory input. Other children, like my son, respond to the removal of the stimulus by becoming aggressive. “When children’s nervous systems are developing and synapses are being formed, those little brains are not wired to handle such rapid-fire sensory input,” according to Dr. Maritza Paz, a chiropractor with Florida Natural Healthcare in South Florida. She added that these are children without trauma histories. When you add the trauma into the equation, the effects can be much more dramatic.

One recommendation, if we choose to use television at all, is to use older television content, like shows that were on the air, possibly as reruns, when we were children, such as: Little House on the Prairie, Leave it to Beaver, Lassie, Flipper, Gilligan’s Island, etc. The editing isn’t as good in these shows and there is less effect on the brains of our children. Consider the difference even between the old Atari games (remember PacMan?), with the now nearly laughable graphics, versus today’s Nintendo or other computer games. No comparision.

So what’s a parent to do?

• Limit screen time. Only you can determine what is too much for your child.


• Some families have adopted a “Family Movie Night” at home where they pop popcorn and enjoy a movie together, and this is the only time they watch television that week.


• Other families might pick a television show or allow each child to choose one show per week.


• Some families have “no TV” during the school week and record favorite shows for the weekend.


• Provide fun alternatives. Stock a room with carefully chosen toys, kids’ magazines, books, puzzles, etc. and make it a point to connect with your child when the TV is off!


• Set a good example by limiting your own viewing time. Model alternatives to watching television: Learn to knit, read a book or magazine, cook something your child enjoys, etc.


• Watch with your child when possible. This gives you an opportunity to make sure the shows are appropriate for your child at this time. I watched Thomas the Tank Engine with my 3 year old and realized that one of the episodes was too scary for him! I never would have guessed if I hadn’t seen him shaking during the “scary” part. This gave me the opportunity to help him process his fears around what he saw and how this related to his own real life fears.


• Avoid televisions in children’s bedrooms and consider covering televisions in main areas with a cloth (out of sight, out of mind) when not in use.


• Choose content carefully. Consider your child’s personal history and emotional age when deciding which shows are appropriate. Consider “older” television shows and movie classics with “slower” editing for less neurological impact.

Alternatives to Watching TV:

Go outside
Read a book
Work a puzzle
Color a picture
Play with beeswax
Learn a new skill (like knitting)
Spend time with a friend
Go for a walk
Prepare a meal together
Go to the park
Go on a scavenger hunt
Write in a journal
Write a story
Make play-dough together
Build with blocks
Play a board game
Listen to music or books on tape/ CD

Create your own list of ideas with your child!

References:

http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/tv_affects_child.html

http://www.aap.org/family/smarttv.htm

http://www.mercola.com

More Mudpies: 101 Alternatives to Television by Nancy Blakey & Melissah Watts

TV rots the senses in the head!
It kills the imagination dead!
It clogs and clutters up the mind!
It makes a child so dull and blind.
He can no longer understand a fantasy,
A fairyland!
His brain becomes as soft as cheese!
His powers of thinking rust and freeze!

-- an excerpt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl, 1964

Originally published in the BCI Parent Enrichment Journal

Rebecca Thompson

Rebecca Thompson, M.S., is the founder of The Consciously Parenting Project. Rebecca has been actively educating parents and facilitating parent groups and workshops that encourage conscious decision-making in family life since 1998. As a wife and the mother of two boys, she has personal as well as professional experience navigating the terrain of parenting. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education and a Masters degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, with specialized training in attachment and trauma.
Click here to read her blog.