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November 1, 2002/Cheshvan 26 5763, Vol. 55, No. 10
Go against the grain and limit TV viewing
BETH OLSON
Staff Writer
Turn off that television. It was the parenting expert mantra in the '90s, but now it seems like experts have just, well, given up.
Despite the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation that parents limit television viewing to less than 10 hours a week, and that children under age 2 not watch TV at all, American viewing habits continue to climb.
Additionally, many parents who I see as conscientious in every way fail to limit their children's TV viewing to a reasonable level. The issue, I think, is that unlike spanking or reading aloud or sleeping through the night, television isn't seen as good or bad by most families.
I remember searching for a preschool when my oldest daughter was 3. I had a few criteria, one being no television or video time. Doesn't sound too difficult? It was impossible. I eventually narrowed the search down to two favorites based on the other criteria - both which showed a movie on Friday afternoons - and made my choice.
How detrimental was that two-hour movie each week? Probably not at all, but I am still bothered by the fact that I couldn't find a single preschool without a TV.
I am much more lenient the second time around (as we all tend to be), although both my children still watch far less than the national average - probably two-five hours a week, including videos.
We don't have cable; we do have a VCR. We don't have satellite; we do have a DVD player. We have two television sets, but neither are in the kids' rooms.
When I see statistics about how much time American children spend in front of the TV, I cringe. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation's 1999 survey showed that 2- to 7-year-olds watch an average of two hours daily (14 hours per week); and 8- to 18-year-olds average 2.75 hours daily (19.25 hours per week). The recommendation stems from research that shows that viewing more than 10 hours per week negatively affects learning, particularly in children of high IQ.
Now imagine if the "average" family cut that time in half - a child struggling in school could spend an extra 10 hours a week getting tutoring; an overweight child could spend an extra 10 hours a week riding a bike or playing at the park; any child could spend an extra 10 hours a week reading, building Legos, playing with friends or helping with family chores.
I've read many accounts of families who made the decision to turn off the TV and the difficult parent/child struggle that followed. While those struggles ultimately end in success, I think it's more important to reach parents of very young children. From experience I can tell you that it's much easier to not start with the TV habit in the first place.
My children have never had more than one television program that they view on a regular basis. When my oldest daughter was in elementary school, she regularly watched "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" for 30 minutes on Friday evenings - and then turned the TV off. My youngest used to watch "Caillou" every morning before preschool - but even that is 2.5 hours a week, 10 hours a month - a whopping 120 hours a year. Think of how clean her room could be if she spent an extra 120 hours on it! However, these limited viewing habits have been effective. Both of them have grown out of their "shows" and currently neither of them is watching any television show on a regular basis.
A bonus of limited viewing is that my kids see it as a treat. A recent threat to one daughter of "you're grounded from TV until you remember to bring your P.E. clothes home to be washed" worked like a charm (even though she frequently goes three or four days at a time without watching anything). We do "family movie night" about once a month, where we rent a family-friendly feature, spread blankets and pillows on the living room floor, and spend a couple of hours cuddling and eating popcorn. It is a simple (and inexpensive) way to have fun family time, but it loses its charm if you're doing it four times a week.
Are we against all TV viewing? Not at all. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a sucker for reality shows. And I've probably seen every single episode of "ER," but I can't imagine wasting 20 hours a week of my life sitting in front of the TV, so why should that be OK for my kids?
Contact the writer at beth_olson@jewishaz.com.
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