Children and TV What You Should Know

Click here for more information: Media Action Guide 2008

TV, DVDs, computers, video games and other electronic media are a powerful force in children’s lives. Many children spend more time in front of a screen than in school. Shows, advertisements and the toys and other products linked to the media influence most aspects of children’s development, learning and behavior.

Many parents and teachers are concerned about this issue and struggle with what to do.

Our Action Guide will help you to:

• Promote informed and responsible use of media.
• Take action to reduce the harmful impact of media.

What Do We Know About Children and Electronic Media?

Screen time reinforces the idea of violence as entertainment. It can undermine lessons taught at home and school about how to treat people, solve problems and have fun.

Screen time can undermine children’s play. It takes time away from play. When children do play, they often imitate what they see on the screen instead of making their own creative and imaginative play. Toys linked to TV shows and movies further limit creative play. Free-time activities and child-created play can seem boring. Creative play is vital for positive intellectual, social and physical development in the early years; it lays the foundation for academic learning.

Screen time contributes to “problem solving deficit disorder” (PSDD). The more screen time children have, the more involved they will be in a world created by someone else, the more they will come to expect fast-paced action and excitement and be bored when they don’t have it, and the harder it will be for them to come up with their own interesting problems to explore, solve and learn from.

Screen time leads to an emphasis on consuming. Children learn to want the products linked to favorite shows—toys, clothes, lunch boxes and food. In addition, children see 40,000 ads on the screen every year. Young children are victims of marketing because they believe what they see and hear.

Screen time (educational and other kinds of programming) contributes to unhealthy eating habits and childhood obesity. It reduces the amount of physical activity children have and contributes to snacking. The largest category of TV advertising directed at children is unhealthy food.

Screen time teaches children lessons caring adults don’t want them to learn. It exposes them to large quantities of violence and anti-social behavior—both pretend and in the news. The violence can lead to increased levels of aggression, fearfulness and play with violence. Also, much of what children see on the screen promotes racial, ethnic and gender stereotypes as well as sexualized appearance and behavior.

Screen time contributes to stress between children and adults.Children watch programs adults find inappropriate. They nag for more and more screen time and nag for the products advertised on the screen. It makes it harder for parents to maintain what they want for their families.What You Can Do

Parents and Children

• Help children develop thoughtful and responsible media viewing habits.
  • Limit screen time. Decide together how much is okay each day or week. (With young children, start with the least amount that can work with your schedule and your child’s).
  • Set guidelines about what is appropriate viewing in your family. Apply guidelines to all media: TV, cartoons, videos, movies, video games, magazines and comic books. Help children select programs within your family’s guidelines.
  • Protect children from exposure to inappropriate media as much as possible. Be aware of what you are watching when your child is able to hear or see it.
  • Teach your child to ask to watch television before being allowed to turn it on.
  • Get TVs, video game systems and computers out of children’s bedrooms.
  • Make a chart (with simple picture illustrations for non-readers) of shows which your children want to watch and which you can agree are good choices. Check the chart regularly to help you discuss how things are going.
  • Watch TV and movies with your children and talk together about what you see. [See box next page]. Aim for a give-and-take discussion rather than a lecture where you give the answers. Listen carefully, find out their ideas and fears, clear up misconceptions and share your ideas and concerns.
  • Use media to spark your child’s imagination and creativity. You can ask questions like: if you wrote the story, how would you change the ending? Would you add new characters? What would they look or act like?
• Encourage and support children’s interests and skills beyond electronic media.
  • Balance electronic media with playtime - encourage your kids to go outside and be active.
  • Promote creative and imaginative play which children control, instead of play that looks like they are imitating what they see on the screen.
  • Encourage children’s play as a way to help them work out their own ideas and develop a sense of mastery. [Use the TRUCE Toy Action Guide available at www.truceteachers.org].
  • Help children resist marketing; choose toys carefully.
  • Provide play materials that can be used in man
  • Limit the number of highly realistic toys and other products (such as lunch boxes, tee shirts and breakfast cereals) that are linked to TV programs.
  • Avoid media-linked toys, especially those connected to media rated for older children or adults.
  • Find appealing non-TV activities for your family.
  • Read to your child and go to the library. It’s the best way you can build their literacy skills and help them establish a love of books.
  • Have art supplies readily available and accessible for your children to use.
  • Play age-appropriate board games.