Additional Information
Oct. 20, 1999
The average American child spends 21 hours a week watching TV.
And with a new fall television season well under way, parents may wonder how much is too much.
In today's Family Now report, Ruth Todd sorts out all the recommendations about how much TV children should watch and what the latest studies say it is doing to them.
Some parents are so busy that they're tempted to use the television as an electronic babysitter.
But recent research and recommendations by children's advocacy groups say it pays to monitor how much and what your children watch on TV.
Alesa Allen has thought all along that television is bad for her three young children.
She keeps the TV off and likes the results.
Alesa Allen: "I found when I had my kids watching t.v. they were less cooperative throughout the day. They were just a little less sharp."
))
Groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics and many others say parents like Allen are doing the right thing.
The group recommends children under the age of 2 shouldn't watch television - at all.
They say babies and toddlers need one-on-one attention for healthy brain growth.
Dr. Frank Palumbo, Pediatrician: "It's the interaction. Television is very passive. There's no feedback. There's no tactile feedback. There's not even auditory feedback."
Child psychologist Doug Goldsmith says parents should not let very small children watch adult TV with them.
Douglas Goldsmith, Ph.D./Exec Dir., The Children's Center: "They say, he's two years old, what's he going to know? He's not going to think anything. But they are watching and they are picking up because they are modeling. Even at the age of one, children start to model what we do."
Other researchers have linked obesity in children to the amount of time they spend in front of the TV, video games and computers.
The children's advocacy group Children Now says boys may be inclined to imitate the violence they see.
And the American Academy of Pediatrics says children shouldn't have TVs, or computers, in their rooms because it could isolate them from the rest of the family.
For more information on the effects of television on children and what parents can do, click here,
or call the Family Now information line at 1-800-575-5751.
