The Controversy of Television

written by Nadine Clifton

A very difficult subject of parenting is television.
I myself have a very clear opinion on the matter.
I do not let my son watch anything that is not age appropriate and that I have not seen myself and if I am not sure how he will react to certain things then I sit down and watch the movie with him.
We have a very clear time limit in our house regarding TV. He may watch a half hour right before lunch and a half hour before dinner. The less the better.
As with most rules there are exceptions to the matter. However, if I know that we are planning to watch a movie together as a family that night then I cut his TV time during the day and let him do something else that is fun instead.
To me TV is a dangerous matter of conversation, because it is easy to fall into either extreme.
Many Parents do not let their children watch any TV! I think that the basic thought of that concept is a good one, because, as proven in many studies, Television for children can cause harmful consequences:
"Several recent [2005] studies show that the quality of the content that children watch on television matches closely with their later level of academic success. Watching less TV increases a child’s likelihood of successfully finishing university, although watching higher quality programmes with educational content can help children achieve academically."

"Between the ages of five and eleven the less television watched, the greater the probability of success at school and beyond. This finding is amplified for the middle, ‘average’ range of intelligence. Having a television in the bedroom is also likely to contribute to lower grades or even failure.
via:
http://www.abelard.org/tv/tv.htm#kids_tv_100705
Decades of studies have linked childhood hours in front of the TV with aggressive behaviour, earlier sexual activity, smoking, obesity, and poor school performance. The research has lead the American Academy of Pediatrics to suggest children watch no more than 2 hours of TV per day and that children under 2 years old watch none at all."
...
"So Robert Hancox at the University of Otago in New Zealand and colleagues studied nearly 1000 children born in Dunedin, NZ, in 1972 and 1973. The researchers gathered data from both parents and children on how many hours a day were each spent watching TV at age 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15. The team then re-evaluated participants at the age of 26.

Drop outs
Kids who watched the least TV – especially between the ages of 5 and 11 – had the highest probability of graduating from university by the age of 26, regardless of IQ or socioeconomic status. While those who watched the most TV, more than 3 hours per day, had the highest chance of dropping out of school without qualifications.

Furthermore, the effects seemed to be strongest for those who had a median IQ level, probably because the outcomes for the children at either IQ extreme are less likely to be affected by TV watching.

Two other studies, also published in the July issue of Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found similar results. Dina Borzekowski at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and colleagues found that Northern Californian third-graders - aged about 8 - with a TV in their bedroom watched more TV and performed worse on standardised tests than classmates without a bedroom TV."

via:
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7626

So, I very well understand Parents, who have decided to cut TV out of their household.
Then there is the other extreme. In some Families the TV is constantly on. Kids ca watch it as they please, and even if no one is watching the TV is on.
I do not agree with either of those methods. For my family a in between has proven to work the best.
Now of course, as all of you, I want my son to be successful in Life. So, knowing about these studies his time in front of the TV has been cut down to minimum and instead I encourage him to play with toys, paint, play outside or help me with stuff(which is still so much fun at that age...I know that'll change). I want him to be able to use his brain and be creative. It is so very important for their development to be able to play alone and come up with stuff to do.
We don't have Cable or Satellite. We have a TV to watch DVDs on, but nothing else.
Here is why: Today's Kids shows are becoming more and more violent. Now I know there is some very good and educational stuff out there, but those things I buy on DVD and let my son watch it on his time. Have you sat through a few kids TV-shows lately? The commercials that come on rather frequently are shocking to me. They are usually not age appropriate!
My concept is about the fine line in between!
I know this is a subject that I could write on and on about, but instead I am very interested to find out how you feel on this Controversy. To your left is a poll matching this post, that I would like to include in our conversation.
Thank you.