ow much time does your young child spend in front of the television? Do you find yourself putting on the dvd player in the car, handing your iPhone to your child so s/he can watch a movie, or putting on the t.v. at home to entertain your child?
TV watching is a passive activity that doesn't require anything more than sitting there, staring at a screen which can lead to obesity and affect developmental skills. When your child is sitting around watching television, they are NOT doing a lot of other things such as: reading a book, playing outside, socially interacting with others, being creative, or being physically active. These are all things crucial for meeting developmental milestones. Limiting t.v. watching time allows for more planned activities which will help your child work on skills like conversational skills, gross and fine motor skills, and cognitive skills.
The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that TV watching should be limited to one to two hours per day of quality programs. The word quality is key here. Make sure what your child is watching offers something to your child. Programs like Dora the Explorer attempt to engage your child in critical thinking skills. And although the questions posed in programs like this are better when coming from an actual person who can help your child come up with the correct answer, it is better than watching mindless television that does not offer a lesson, or some learning.
They also suggest that your child should not have a t.v. in his/her room, that if a program is not worth watching, do not keep the t.v. on for background noise, and choose program times as you would if you were going to a movie. It might not be a bad idea to actually check out the programs your young child watches and look at some others to in order to compare. You may discover that one is better than another and is better quality. This should apply to movies too. You should know exactly what kind of content the movies have in them. Just because something is animated, doesn't mean it's age appropriate.
Set a t.v. time, choose programs wisely and plan activities for your child that will help, not hinder your young one's developmental skills. Children learn from doing. As an old chinese proverb says "Tell me and I forget, Show me and I remember, Involve me and I understand".
