Television and Toddlers

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Trout Bum

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Howdy, pipesters. Question: how much TV do you let your little one(s) watch? How much is too much? There's a lot of debate/research on the web about this topic, I just thought I would pose the question to the dads on this board. My 17 month old daughter sits there spellbound, watching the kiddy shows, some of which are pretty entertaining... (ever seen "Word Girl?" Word up!) BUT, I wonder how much is too much and is just not appropriate. Of course, in some ways it's nice, because it frees me up to do chores, surf on line, (like right now) and not have to worry about her... Let's hear your thoughts!
 
Going through the same thing right now! My two year old is watching Toy Story 2 for the umpteenth time, he never gets sick of it. I do think it helps with memory, because he loves saying all the names of the characters. If it stops raining, I'll take him outside to jump in puddles, and maybe some more cartoons in the afternoon. I remember watching quite a few Tom and Jerry's in my day! And Word Girl is pretty cool! :cheers:
 
I don't see anything wrong with it. My boy and I sit and watch an Elmo movie just about nightly, Alex doesn't really care for the stuff I watch so I can have the TV running and he pretty much ignores it until something bright, flashy, or shinny pops up. Other than those times he pretty much just sits with his books and flips through them like he's reading, or plays with this toys.
 
I have wondered about exactly the same thing too. My son Miguel has watched the same DVDs of Blues Clues and Alice in Wonderland for months!! Someone told me once that that sort of repetition is part of the learning process, and that it´s normal. I do wonder how much TV is good and at what point it becomes detrimental. The cool thing is that he´s bilingual (ingles/spanish) and his vocabulay in both languages grows daily.
 
As a new husband, and possibly a new father before too long, I've considered this to some extent. My views on the subject have been shaped primarily by reading Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman and other related/similar works. I think when I have children, their TV time will be extremely limited, not something they do every day. I would rather have them read, when they are old enough, and until then my wife or I will read to them. It sounds easy, but I'm sure it will be harder to actually do!
 
I recently read the book called "Subliminal Seduction" which was written back in '69, the stat's are amazing as to what is being put into our subconscious on a daily basis. Just like the recent news story about George W. Bush using subliminal messages in his last presidential ads.

I detest TV, ....I tried watching a back to back special on the Bio channel over the weekend with my wife, and I got pissed off at the number of commercials run in the same order every break, and the show also performed the same cheap sensationalism by going over and over anything remotely interesting the subjects were talking about after each commercial break. They could have made the show a half hour long without all the cheap replays trying to keep your attention. But they know the Sheeple will watch anything, and the more they watch of programming designed for a 6th Grade education, the less informed they are, and that's what the big boys fear the most. But, I hear the Playboy channel is fun to watch. ;)

NEXT.. :lol:
 
I kind of pick and choose what my kids watch and sometimes I tell them no when they ask to watch TV just so they get used to doing other things. When my daughter was young, I didn't really want her watching any of the kids shows (Barney or whatever) so I picked up The Muppet Show, season 1 for her to watch. I remembered liking that when I was young, and after watching it when I was older, I found it pretty funny a lot of the time.

I think it goes back to that old adage, "Everything in moderation."
 
From around age nine on, TV was just insufferably wrong. Lousy. Depraved. Garbage. When the Beatles came on Ed Sullivan I took the dog out for a walk.

Refused to have one in the house, for years 'til Mrs. Yak snuck one in. Rationalisation : for her parents to watch when they come. Women excel at stuff like that.

She watches Dancing with the Stars & movies while i'm in here on the computer.

TV time in toto : Steeler games.

:face:
 
Thanks for posting fellas. This one is tricky... I just wonder how much is too much, as opposed to any subliminal programming, which, I would hope, has not corrupted the likes of Sesame Street as of yet. Then again, you never know...




And I most assuredly cannot stand Barney!
 
It gives people who trust it an entirely false picture of both human nature and of the world and the way it works, by suggestion. It's a glitch in human being that we tend to believe what we see, and what we see are attitudes and values acted out (modeled) that are not only unreal, but destructive. As you can easily see by watching kids model their attitudes and clothes on it.

Tell me how many 23 year old women are NYC detective captains and how many seven year old kids smart off to their parents in the real world. And how it is that who wins the latest round of "Dancing with the Stars" is of much greater importance in the overall scheme of things than what the central bankers are doing to what's left of our economy.

Tom Ridge (former Governor of Yaksylvania) put his finger on it when a bunch of hard nose legislators wanted to attack him for putting cable TV state prisons :

"Television is electronic thorazine."

:face:
 
There's a lot of truth in what you say Yak, but there are documentaries and science programs, intelligent lighthearted entertainment, views and values presented from different cultures and parts of the world, culinary education,,,,,,there ARE educational viewing portions of the airwaves.
 
I can't speak from experience--but as I reckon it, I'd obviously be careful with what I feed my kid, so the same goes for what I'd feed his/her mind. There's a lot of crap on the shelves of a supermarket that aren't good for anyone, and there's some stuff that's only suitable for older stomachs, and even the healthful stuff needs moderation and variety. Same goes for the lineup in the TV Guide... and the library shelves, and the record rack...
 
I have an 9 month old, and I personally watch very little broadcast television. My wife and I, whose a musician, I'm a singer and wanna-be writer, usually watch the history channel, food network or Netflix.

I hope that one day we can actually choose what we watch on TV through a la cart services such as google tv or even devices such as the XBox.

I generally detest television and most of what is on is simply depraved. If you watch any of the children's stuff, most of it is disgusting. Don't even get me started on the horrendous mockery the Disney channel is making of parenthood. I detest the D-channel.

There are some good channels out there, and some that are interesting, educational and entertaining. I love Dirty Jobs, but hate cable TV so I Netflix it.

We are considering cancelling our cable all together and go Netflix all the way once my son Alex is old enough to understand what he sees.

What I absolutely abhor is the amount of gratuitous sexuality on television, and mindless violence. While this sort of things is fitting for adults, I have really changed my tune when it comes to keeping my young son innocent of things he has no business knowing until I, his father, talk to him about it.

Children of all ages, have very little capacity for critical and abstract thinking, I think. Without these tools at your disposal, entertainment can dictate your behavior, choices and life-style.

Of course, there will be school and he'll learn things there. I don't want to deprive my child of anything, and I want him to learn in any modality that fits him, but television today is nothing by reality show trash, Snooky, Dancing with the Starlets, and things that are of so little importance that they make me laugh.

I'd rather know what's going on in the world of politics and abroad and be educated about the world around me, than mindlessly entertained by things which have no meaning.

Wow, that was a rant, eh?

:shock:

Martin
 
there are documentaries and science programs, intelligent lighthearted entertainment, views and values presented from different cultures and parts of the world, culinary education,,,,,,there ARE educational viewing portions of the airwaves.
While the cooking and things are one thing, I seriously doubt how much real education TV can do. As a medium, it lends itself to entertainment, and cannot do deep explanation and education, because, well, that's boring. Real education takes time and effort, and TV does neither well. For more on this, read Postman (fora really don't have enough space for detailed explanation, either ;) ).

Yak and Martin, I'm with y'all, for the most part.
 
You're right. TV really is entertainment, to really get an understanding of something, you have to dig deep, and think critically about the subject.

I guess when I think about my son, I wouldn't mind him getting some entertainment that will hopefully stimulate him to explore things more, such as his colors, numbers, letters, etc.

What I want to avoid are programs where parents are portrayed as stupid, inept. I don't want him to watch the kind of crap that my niece watched as in Bratz. It's disgusting how they sexualize young girls - but that's another topic all together.

I won't mind him watching things on the television, but it'll have to be within limits and through parental guidance. I have vowed to never use the TV as a baby-sitter. Not that it's not nice to get some peace and quiet for a little while, but there is a difference between allowing your child to watch an hour of TV or so and not spending any time with him at all. As someone else said, moderation is the key.

When I think about what TV has taught me? It's pretty much just that girls have boobies and their fun to look at. HA! Not quite the education I probably needed.

But, the boob-tube is pretty much just that.

:D

Martin
 
I'm not a father yet, but when I see kids watching TV as opposed to the ones not, the children not watching the TV tend to find better things to do. They'll go outside, explore, play games, or some of them will even take apart a toy to see how it works. In short, they discover the world around them for themselves. They learn firsthand about the real world instead of the things told to them on television.

I'm sure a little bit of TV is fine though.

 
Watching Japanese TV shows in the 70's really shaped a lot of my later likes and hobbies. Amazingly, they really helped foster my creative side. I used to draw pictures of my favorite characters, and looked forward to new episodes with hysterical eagerness. I hope my son finds shows that he loves the way I loved mine. I think it's part of what being a kid is all about.
 
MartinH said:
What I want to avoid are programs where parents are portrayed as stupid, inept.

That is pretty much the majority of cartoons!! Haha....

I listenened to the Theme song of one of my daughters favorites recenetly:

"Parents are weird, they don´t get it....." it starts out...

Geez, maybe I don´t but I don´t need a song to drive the point home... :lol: :lol:
 
My granddaughter told me that the reason she likes to come to my house is because I teach her new things all the time.

Blow up the T.V.
 
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