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Home › Articles › Your Toddlers › Turn Off the Television

Turn Off the Television

How Turning the TV Off
Can Help You Tune In

By Mark Stackpole

Pages:  1  2  3  

Cristina Pieraccini, professor of broadcasting and mass communications at State University of New York at Oswego, agrees. "Too much television stifles creativity and creative thinking skills," she says. "It is too formula-driven, leaves no room for alternative problem-solving and falls often to violent answers."

Aside from the issues with programming content, there are other troubling aspects to excessive television viewing. "Studies show a clear correlation with TV viewing and obesity later in life," says Pieraccini. "If children watch five hours of TV per day and snack at the same time, no wonder we have a childhood epidemic of obesity. Plus, look at the ads snacks, sweets and fast food."

Pieraccini thinks turning off the TV is a great ideabecause it makes parents and caregivers think about alternative activitiessuch asreading, physical activities and games.

Setting Limits
Laura Steves of Fort Worth, Texas, pays careful attention to the amount of television her two young sons watch and is even more careful about the content of the programming they see. In the morning, 3-year-old Spencer and 13-month-old Cooper are allowed one 30-minute program. "I allow them to watch a public broadcast show while we gather our things to leave for school," she says. "If the program is not age-appropriate for both of them, I put in a Baby Einstein video. Spencer shouts out animals and numbers and colors."

Instead of watching television during their time together, the Steves family prefers a more interactive experience, beginning with dinner preparation. Everyone has a role, with Spencer tearing the lettuce and using his plastic knife and fork to cut the veggies for the salad. Spencer does get to watch a little more TV with his dad while mom is working or putting Cooper to bed, but their focus is clearly on family activities. The whole family might play in the playroom or set up and crawl through mazes made from the large refrigerator-sized boxes that they have saved and stored. During the week, they take a lot of pictures of all the fun things they have done. For a quieter, creative activity, the family prints up the pictures and makes a collage from all the photos.

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