The Why of No TV

So I've been hesitating to post this...First off, let me say that I'm not into mom-shaming. Just love your kids and try your absolute hardest to ensure that they know that you love them. That's it. Statistically, that's the most influential and important aspect of mothering. Congratulations! that should more or less come naturally if your mother was an involved parent. And, it will come more or less naturally to your children as a result of your excellent mothering as well. You are awesome, and you're doing better at this mom-thing than you think you are.  Also bear in mind that most of these studies on television are in unfortunately "average", not so stellar homes where the television isn't usually turned to Sesame Street, but Cops or CSI: whatever, all day every day. 

Okay, so I'm a nerd, and I'd also like to think I treat this mom gig as a profession, so here's the data on television:

• A typical child in the U.S. watches 28 hours of TV weekly, seeing as many as 8,000 murders by the time he or she finishes elementary school at age 11, and worse, the killers are depicted as getting away with the murders 75% of the time while showing no remorse or accountability. (American Psychological Association, February 19, 2004)

• The average US child is exposed to 232.2 minutes of background television in a typical day. ("Background Television" published in Pediatrics) --Background television has been correlated to decreases in the amount of time a child spends exploring and engaging with environment, and the length of time a child focuses on a single task, i.e. the development of an attention span. 

• By Age 4, each hour of television watched daily correlates to a 9 percent leap in bullying behavior when they reach school. ( Brain Rules for Baby by John Medina, page 146)

• Children do not obtain Moral Realism until age 8. Meaning that while children understand prosocial behavior (being nice to your neighbor, not inflicting harm, sharing so that others will share with you....forgive the comparison, but essentially children are socially on par with dogs or apes, if not ever-so-slightly more ethical).  But they don't really get beyond black-and-white decision making, and being good in difficult situations solely because they fear punishment until they are older. (see Developmentally Appropriate Practices by Carol Gestwicki, pg 295)

So seeing situations where the bad guy gets away with it before age 8 is bad news bob for a child's behavior. And comedic violence is also especially negative for young children, even the goofy Three Stooges or Tom and Jerry type, because for small kids consequences are still being established. Showing someone get hit by a hammer and not suffer lasting harm means that they're learning that a hammer doesn't really hurt. And kids are hardwired to model what they see; viewing violence makes kids more violent (e.g. the famous Bobo Doll Experiment). 

Not good. 

Kid beating the snot out of Bobo

And that's not even addressing the racial, gender, class, and body type skewing of the people portrayed on television. 

Beyond the outright negatives, mostly TV takes away time for better things. Sesame Street was designed for low income, at-risk kids and it works. Kids actually pick up reading and math skills from watching. Mr. Roger's Neighborhood has been shown to help high-stress kids manage the negative aspects of their home life. ...but it's not anywhere as good as having someone respond to you, to talk about your feelings face-to-face, to point out the mouse on every page of Good Night Moon, to count the number of carrots on the plate. Educational TV is fine, but hands-on exploring is better. 

Children develop so miraculously fast. And they develop best when all of that growth is inter-related. Montessori said something along the lines of "if you want to give it to the mind, you must first give it to the hand." Babies use their bodies to learn--to feel, to taste, to bang. Education that lets babies explore objects and concepts with their fingers (and usually mouths) is absorbed more readily and naturally. I also think society is getting a little too virtual--and I want to stress to my son that that's not what I value. I value my real life: the remarkable creatures that live around our house, the beautiful trees, our home, our friends, our family.(Here's a pretty cool sermon on seeing "things as they really are" in the digital age-- if you feel so inclined.)

So...I don't own a television.And while I'm not prefect at it, I try to more or less abide by the rule that when Dinobaby is awake the computer screen is off. But, not always. Sometimes we watch some pretty sweet music videos on youtube--I just try to keep the flashing and cut-scenes to a minimum. 

I also have a husband with a flexible schedule, so I don't need the TV to take a shower or a nap when I need it. Heaven knows the TV is a blessing for a Momma at the end of her rope. So no judgments here. Do what you have to do to keep sane, and keep your patience. I'm just explaining my rationale for setting my "No TV until Two" goal. Have a great day y'all.