Children Under 2 shouldn't watch TV

The American Academy of Pediatricians has recommended certain guidelines for screen time for our kids. Screen time is the combination of TV, computer and gaming that our children engages in daily. I will tell you it’s a constant struggle at my house. Our 2nd grade son is perfectly content with a screen in front of him. Almost any screen.

There’s some scary statistics out there, I actually talked about this recently here. But here are a few more …

• Nearly 2/3rds of all shows contain violence, children’s shows have the highest percentage
• 25% of all MTV ads contain alcohol or tobacco use
• 32% of 2 to 7 year olds and 65% of 8 to 18 year olds have TVs in their bedroom
• 10% to 20% of real-life violence may be attributed to media-based violence

Increased screen time has been linked to obesity, drug use, grades and violence.  There are a host of studies cited by the AAP that go into the details.

The AAP recommends that Pediatricians pass on the following information to the parents of their patients.

• Limit children’s total media time (with entertainment media) to no more than 1 to 2 hours of quality programming per day.
• Remove television sets from children’s bedrooms.
• Discourage television viewing for children younger than 2 years, and encourage more interactive activities that will promote proper brain development, such as talking, playing, singing, and reading together.
• Monitor the shows children and adolescents are viewing. Most programs should be informational, educational, and nonviolent.
• View television programs along with children, and discuss the content. Two recent surveys involving a total of nearly 1500 parents found that less than half of parents reported always watching television with their children.
• Use controversial programming as a stepping-off point to initiate discussions about family values, violence, sex and sexuality, and drugs.
• Use the videocassette recorder wisely to show or record high-quality, educational programming for children.
• Support efforts to establish comprehensive media-education programs in schools.
• Encourage alternative entertainment for children, including reading, athletics, hobbies, and creative play.

Seems simple enough.  I think this can be boiled down to, don’t use your TV as an electronic babysitter.  In my household we vascillate on TV time.  We try to keep it to an hour during the week and we’re a little looser on the weekend.  My son is constantly (I mean constantly!) asking for more time and it’s so easy to say yes so I can run and check email or twitter.  I have to admit he frequently gets away with it.

Michelle Obama has come out in support of the above guidelines as part of her Let’s Move campaign.  The campaign recently set out 70 different pointers to focus on and I’ll be talking about them more in the days to come.  Their goals is to drop childhood obesity rates back to the 5% level of the late 70s.  Currently childhood obesity rates are between 20% and 32% depending on the state.

What do you think about screen time?  If you’re a parent do you find yourself constantly arguing with your child about how much they’re in front of a screen?  Has anyone had their pediatrician talk to them about TV time?  (Mine didn’t and she’s great and has 4 kids of her own.)  I’d love to hear from parents of older kids who have homework and online studying to contend with as well as their teen’s leisurely screen time.

Let me know your thoughts.

Lisa

Popularity: 2% [?]