Media and Children

A library advocate friend of mine sent me this TED talk about Media and Children  by pediatrician Dimitri Christakis and I'm so glad to see that the discussion of children and screen time has shifted a little.
I hear it from most of my colleagues, and I've got stacks of pamphlets I'm supposed to give out to parents that basically vilifies TV and any other electronic screen having thingee and parents who let their children watch it. I don't think that's right and I haven't been able to bring myself to hand out one pamplet against screen time because I don't agree with how they make their argument.

When I was born, my mom was given a television as a gift. I've never not had a TV in my bedroom. I watched a lot of TV as a child and am still an avid TV consumer. I know that children's programs are very different from the shows I watched growing up. As you'll see in Christakis' talk, shows 20-30 years ago were much slower paced, had less violence if any at all (Ha! Tom & Jerry non-violent? Ha!) and I doubt television producers even knew what rapid sequencing or "Nonstop Frenetic Animated Action" was except to illustrate "crazy" (Think of the Pink Elephants sequence in Dumbo).  This is what the discussion should really be about and I'm happy Christakis focuses it that way: Over-stimulation causes long-term attention and perception issues in children. Small amounts of over-stimulation can be counterbalanced by heaping doses of cognitive stimulation, or face-to-face interaction with humans, especially their loving parents or caregivers.

So, this is the Sort of a Librarian stance: TV isn't bad for your child, but over-stimulation and cognitive neglect is. Spend as much time as possible playing, singing, talking, holding, reading to and just being with your child. If you're worried about violence and other questionable content, don't let them watch those programs, or take some time to discuss it with your child. Notice that that involves more face-to-face interaction. I see a trend...