September 26, 2012
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Is the TV your babysitter?
I watched this video the other day, and I just felt like I needed to blog about it. I do not have kids, but I’m around kids a lot, and I’ve thought about how I’m going to raise my future kids, and I agree with this video. I’m not going to let the TV become some sort of babysitter because I want them to be distracted. I’m going to interact with them, play with them, have arts and crafts time, etc. Minimal TV will be watched by my kids, and if there is TV involved, it will be something educational and enriching. There will not be anything mindless TV being watched. Kids learn the most by being interactive with their environments…we can see this from the very beginning, when they’re infants. When they start learning that they can hold something in their hand by curling their fist..when they see that something moves when it’s kicked, etc. They can learn from watching TV, but not as well…and are they learning the right things?
Also, why are kids more sassy? What do you think the root cause(es) are? Is it because of TV?
Comments (18)
Definitely not. My mother was raised that way b/c her mother worked and her grandmother had to take care of her and couldn’t do much. The little girl up the street is in much the same situation as she is being raised by her great-grandparents. I have been spending time with her and we spend all the time we can outside being active. She is learning to do the fireman’s pole and monkey bars so that her classmates won’t laugh at her at recess.
Also kids are sassier because their parents don’t bother to teach them anything, much less respect or discipline.
If you actually have the time to devote to that, then good on you. Many parents don’t have that luxury.
this post has made me feel sassy.
@lanney - That’s great…outside time is good! I remember playing outside all the time..my mom would sometimes lock us out of the house.
@chronic_masticator - It’s my dream to be a stay at home mom, so I truly hope so.
@skeptic42 - Haha!!
Great post. One of the families that I babysit for here in Lubbock are pretty wealthy. So their 5 and 7 year old boys have iPhones and iPads. -_- I always make sure to do something outside with them when I’m there. They are really well mannered though, so the parents must be doing something right!
Yes, when I was growing up, TV was only for sickness, storms, and sleepovers.
I agree that in general letting kids watch tv is a huge detriment. I know when we were little we weren’t really allowed to watch tv. But it seems like technology is outstripping traditional toys as methods of “playing”
@crazy2love - Even when you’re a SAHM, it’s still hard to find the time to do all the things you want to do with your kids. I did it for nearly four years before I finally found work again.
We don’t even have “tv”. I mean, we have a television set, but it’s not hooked up to get channels, we only use it for movie watching. I don’t think that will change when we have kids.
I’m trying to remember watching tv when I was a kid… my mom was a SAHM too. It didn’t happen often. But, she didn’t hang out with us all the time either, I mostly remember playing outside with my friends or reading. ANYTHING rather than get caught doing nothing by my mom and be put to work! And maybe that’s the way childhood is supposed to be. We certainly had fun, running around doing goofy kid things.
Dragon Ball Z.
I don’t think I’ll let my kids watch TV until they’re 4ish. They should be looking at picture-books, playing, running around, messy cooking with me, etc. I also won’t let them have a computer of their own until they’re much older, and no cell-phone until high-school (and to use it only when they neeeeed to call, like for me to pick them up after an oddly long practise or meeting).
I grew up with little TV as a tiny kid, no cell-phone til I was in HS, and no computer til middle school (but even then it was the family’s computer and I didn’t get my own laptop til college).
When I was about 10 our TV broke. My dad refused to fix it, and at the time he was a part-time TV repair man. It turned out to be the best thing he ever did for me. While I was married the TV became an issue several times and rather than fight over it for weeks, I gave in and my ex did use it to get away from being a mother. I regret that, probably more than almost anything else.
Yeah, maybe plopping the kid in front of the tv all day would be a huge issue. I let my daughter watch tv in the mornings, though. But we do preschool, now, in the mornings too! Normal schedule, she can watch her favorite cartoons from 9-10, then again at 11:30-12. And sometimes I’ll let her watch a movie in the afternoon, depending. she’ll watch way more than that if I’m sick or she’s sick or it’s just a really bad day and, there are days where I have a hard time functioning. Not often,but yeah. It is a good distraction, during most mornings, so I can get other things done. ANd then, we do have outdoor time, we play games and stuff and she has some computer games she likes to play. I don’t mind any of this. I”m sure Tv doesn’t help with sassiness. I noticed, after my daughter watched a certain show, she started acting like the kid in the show and she wasn’t allowed to watch it anymore! So I agree that TOO MUCH tv would be a bad thing and you do need to do other things with your kids, but I’m thankful for the TV at times and I won’t lie about that, haha. And, yes, educational shows win!
I took so many early childhood classes and they all agreed that TV was bad for development. It’s so sad being in school and seeing the “toys” kids have. It’s no wonder people are losing houses when they indulge their kids with every single gadget that hits the market.
Who knows if television will become more interactive? Basically having television is a cultural thing to a point.
I suppose you will be using the DVD/Blueray player for all the specials that they have? Unfortunately it will bean expense to have a library.
it requires a sacrifice on our part if we want to be there for the kids rather than just let the tv be there for them… because it sounds easy to do, but it normally is hard work.. but of course, it is the right thing to do.. still, like evry other right thing to do, it is hard work, and not many have the will
The biggest problem is both parents work, so the children do TV. My Mother never worked out of the home, so TV was 2 hours in the evening, and we all watched the same thing. My parents and my sister.
In 1990 before my wife died we dumped the TV and to this day I do not have one.
I can hear the radio, read the news here etc.
They say children spend nearly 40 hours a week watching the TV, and the junk on there, no wonder they are as they are. Bro. Doc