Comments (6)

By Mom Unplugged, October 9, 2007 8:55 pm

There is a new study out which finds that children who watch TV for two or more hours per day from a young age (2.5 years-old), are more prone to behavioral problems and poor social skills when they are older (5.5 years-old).
The study was conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, and was published in the October issue of the journal Pediatrics. It is based on a nationwide survey of the parents of 2,707 children.

Here are some of the findings:

-Children who had been sustained, heavy (two or more hours of TV a day) TV watchers from ages 2.5 to 5.5 had problems in the areas of social skills and behavior. Problems with aggression and difficulty paying attention were also commonly found in this group.

-Children who didn’t watch much as toddlers, but who were heavy viewers by age 5.5 demonstrated problems with social skills.

-Children who watched TV heavily at age 2.5 but who had reduced their TV viewing time by age 5.5, showed no significant social or behavioral problems.

I think that the last point is one of the most interesting findings in this study. Even if a child was a heavy viewer as a toddler, as long as viewing is significantly reduced by age 5.5, then the negative behavioral and social effects seem to be alleviated. In other words, preschool and kindergarten age is still not too late to reduce a child’s TV viewing and see improved behavior. Reducing or eliminating the TV, even after the toddler years, can have a positive impact on behavior and social skills.

Today’s Phoenix newspaper (The Arizona Republic) had an article about the study, that added a few bits of interesting information. The Arizona Republic reporter interviewed Jill Stamm, a psychologist and co-founder of New Directions Institute for Infant Brain Development in Phoenix. According to Ms. Stamm, TV’s short bursts of programming and commercials trains an infant’s brain to “scan and shift” rather than to pay attention for a long period of time. Once this brain pattern is set, it can inhibit the ability to learn later in life. She says: “What the brain gets wired for is quick hits of salient information. The brain gets used to that, and that’s what it wants.” Ms. Stamm says that the brain is adaptable and by reducing or ceasing TV viewing altogether, particularly before the age of 5, the brain will rewire itself and repair the damage.

There is also mention of a former Phoenix school teacher who says she could pick out the heavy TV viewers in her class simply by their behavior. They were the kids who couldn’t sit still and had short attention spans. She also said that “their vocabularies were limited and their writing less descriptive.”

Additionally, the study gaged the effects on 5.5 year-old children of having a television in the bedroom. 41% of the parents surveyed reported that their child had a TV in their room. Not surprisingly, the study found that having a set in the bedroom was linked to sleep problems.

LINKS:

Read the summary of the study at the Pediatrics website, here.

The Arizona Republic Article: TV Bad for Kids, New Study Reports

Comments (3)

By Mom Unplugged, July 3, 2007 8:33 am

One of the many great things about TV-free kids is that they really like to be outdoors. In the nice weather, my two oldest children are outdoors almost all the time. Without TV and video games, there is nothing much for them to sit around doing indoors. Besides - the lure of trees, rocks, bugs, bikes, scooters, swing sets, and “clubhouses” is too great.

In fact, last week I was very pleased that my children chose to go “sploring” outside (as my 5 year-old son calls it) despite being offered the opportunity to watch “Sprout” on TV at my sister’s house when we were there to have dinner. They climbed trees, found bugs, and moved sticks and rocks from “point A” to “point B.”

Several weeks ago, whymommy linked to a Washington Post article entitled Getting Lost in the Great Indoors. The basic point of the article is that today’s kids don’t like to go outdoors, unless the purpose is an organized activity such as soccer or Little League. They would rather be indoors with TV’s, computers, and video games.

A 2005 Kaiser Family Foundation study found that children ages 8 to 18 spend 6.5 hours a day on television, electronic games, computers, music and other media, with many multitasking electronically.

Here is a telling quote from the Washington Post article:

“In Great Falls, the Hefner family has a back yard of more than an acre, a green swath of kid heaven at the edge of Great Falls National Park. Three years ago, George Hefner, a general contractor who knows how to work a saw, built a two-story “treehouse” that stands on the ground between two leafy maples.

He imagined his children fixing it up, sleeping there.

But 10-year-old Paul cannot remember the last time he played in the little house. ‘Animals live out there, you know,’ he told his mother one day. His older sister Sarah, 16, admits that she has never set foot in it. ‘What would I do in a treehouse?’ she asked.”

According to the article, getting kids outdoors is a new venue for activists. There have been Capitol Hill hearings, state legislative action, grass-roots projects, and even a U.S. Forest Service initiative.

This recent public concern appears to be partly inspired by a book entitled Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. This post may be a tad premature since I have not yet read Mr. Louv’s book. It remains on my “To Read” list. However Mother Rising wrote an interesting post about it, that makes me want to read it all the more! (Has anyone else out there read it yet?)

The book seems to be creating public awareness of a trend that many parents have been noticing for quite a while. In addition to the obvious culprits, TV and other electronics, the article also suggests that parental fears of leaving children unattended, more working mothers, and more organized sports may also be to blame.

It does seem that today’s kids are so overscheduled that there may be little time left for unstructured outdoor play. Overscheduling is something I would like to avoid if possible, but the lure of fun, educational activities is always there to tempt parents (a struggle I wrote about here: The 6 Year-Old and her Executive Secretary).

It is so sad to me that we need grass roots initiatives and Congressional hearings (not to mention the $20 million that 40 “civic leaders” are trying to raise to fund 20 country-wide initiatives) all simply to encourage kids to go outdoors.

I am fortunate to live in a small town. If I lived in a big city apartment it would obviously be much harder to get my kids outside. I wouldn’t be able to simply release them into the backyard. We would have to depend on family trips to the park, the country, etc. I do realize how lucky I am.

However, there are plenty of families who do have the ideal safe, kid-friendly yard (such as the family quoted above) and who nonetheless have problems getting the kids outside. My advice is to try turning off the TV and putting away the video games. You don’t need a $20 million initiative to get your kids outdoors! Just allow them to “be bored” and see what happens.

Thanks to morguefile.com and photographer ximenez.

Comments (3)

By Mom Unplugged, June 11, 2007 10:48 am

I have recently come upon another blogger who is trying to unplug her family. Celtic Mommy and her family have decided to give TV-free life it a try! So far, she has written three posts on her progress.

Post number one concerns her observations through Day 3. Already by Day 3 she noticed that she had more time to crochet and take walks. Her two little boys didn’t seem to miss TV and were sleepier at bedtime (a definite plus!).

Her second post is entitled “Unplugged Evolution (a.k.a. Day 7).” Here Celtic Mommy describes happier meal times, the joy of cooking with music instead of a TV show, and a realization: “As I drifted off, I thought about everything we’d done this weekend and realized much of it could not have been done if the boob tube had been on.” She also says: “Today will be day seven of many many more days of being “unplugged” in the house. In just six short days, I have noticed a change in Emerson’s play habits and attention span.”

Post number three is a quick update: During a morning walk they pass by the filming of what they at first thought was a TV show (it actually turned out to be a movie). TV can be hard to escape, especially in Southern California!

Celtic Mommy’s observations of the change in behavior of her son are not unusual. In a National Survey of TV-free families, one of the academic benefits of life without TV was reported to be the following: “A much longer attention span in TV free children was noted in more than 200 different essays. Comments included: Where there is boredom, creativity and self-motivation often emerge!”

I have found my own children to exhibit long attention spans for their ages and a high degree of creative play and thinking. Since my children have never had TV I have no real point of comparison, however my observations have been backed up by positive comments from their teachers.

One final thought: Celtic Mommy has also noticed “[t]he looks you get from family and friends… you’d think I’ve grown a second head when I mention that we are not watching TV to some people.” This is true and many times I have experienced the same reaction, which always amuses me.

WARNING: I am stepping on my soapbox now! I do wish that a family living without TV was not such an unusual phenomenon in our society. I firmly believe that children can only benefit from less electronic stimulation and more quiet, creative time. Why are we so surprised that kids today have short attention spans and are easily “bored” when they are constantly bombarded by the noisy, flashy, and often violent world of TV or video games?

It is hardly even possible any more to go out to lunch without enduring multiple TVs all on different channels, often with music playing on top of this cacophony. Have we humans become incapable of spending a peaceful hour or two over a quiet lunch engaged in simple conversation with one another?

Life without TV is fun and beneficial for everyone! Thank you Celtic Mommy for giving it a try! If anyone else out there has a TV Turn-Off story to tell, or wants to give it a try and report back, please let me know and I will link to you too. If you want to try it, but don’t have a blog of your own, please send me an email and I will post your observations here!

I am stepping off my soapbox now! So, how is the weather where you are today?

(For more info on “turning it off,” check out my Unplug TV Resources links in the left sidebar and my post: TV Turn-Off Week Is Over! Now What?)

Comments (3)

By Mom Unplugged, March 1, 2007 9:00 pm

I made my decision to live a TV-free life when my now 6 year-old was about 9 months old. So none of my three kids (6, 4 and 1) has ever experienced TV in our home. I have long been anticipating that inevitable question: “Mom, why don’t we have TV like everyone else?” My two oldest have been attending school since they were 3 and I really thought I would have had The Question by now, but no, not yet.

Some friends of mine decided to discontinue their TV service about 9 months ago and their 6 year-old has finally adjusted. She plays or reads in her free time and no longer asks to watch TV. My friends’ experience proves that it IS possible to eliminate the box from your family’s life even if your children are used to it. I imagine it might be harder to do with older kids or teens, but I believe anything is possible as long as both parents are totally committed to the idea.

My husband’s house has TV but when we go there, astonishingly, the kids never ask to watch. They spend their time playing. I do allow an occasional video, but again, to my surprise, they hardly ever request one (it’s been about four months since their last video). If we go to a hotel, their big treat is a room service meal as a “picnic” on the floor while watching TV. The hotel we go to frequently has no children’s channels so they watch the food channel and are thrilled. Once at ages 3 and 4 they sat in awe, completely glued to a half-hour gardening show which demonstrated the proper technique for pruning a bush!

I am not writing about this to “brag” that my children are perfect (believe me, they are far from it!). I simply want to encourage any families out there who are considering taking the big plunge. For us, the results have been well worth it so far.