TELEVISION... YOUR CHILD AND YOU

                                   
One aspect of parenting that is problematic, and for many controversial, is the question of T.V. Although virtually all experts agree that television viewing by young children should be limited and strictly controlled, many parents just do not accept the T.V. as an "enemy." While almost all parents agree that violence and adult content should be avoided, programs designed specifically for kids are readily embraced. Aside from entertainment, the "educational" value... learning the alphabet, word recognition, introduction to numbers, etc. are mistakenly felt to outweigh the negatives attached to T.V. And for many weary parents the television provides a welcome break from the everyday demands of child-rearing.

Many parents are not too concerned about T.V. for older children and teens. With some supervision and control of viewing, parents generally accept television as a ubiquitous part of life, both for themselves and their kids. Unfortunately, taking the "easy way out" in regard to television for children may have many far-reaching harmful consequences.

I recently came across a newsletter by Dr. Louise Hart that decried the exploitation of children by television advertising {www.louisehart.com}. Marketing to children is big and profitable. Companies spend $17 billion each year to brainwash kids into lusting for every manner of product from toys, clothes and gadgets to food, cosmetics and the like. Children between the ages of two and eleven are bombarded with 25,000 advertisements a year on T.V. alone. Brand name companies rake in $500 billion a year in sales influenced by children.

Today's kids are programmed to "need" brand-name products. Commercials and cartoons rule the day. Parents are nagged until they give in. {Some believe that by indulging their kids they are actually being good and loving.} As Dr. Hart so aptly puts it, "They {kids} are given permission to think everything is about 'me,' and 'about me NOW.' The authority of parents is being usurped by brand names. Traditional values of the family are challenged, weakened and undermined when exhausted parents give in."

T.V. hurts in many other ways. Time glued to the "tube" takes the mind and body away from more important developmental needs. Creativity, imagination and cognitive thinking are compromised; physical activity and play are diminished. The adverse effects can be serious, particularly in the early and critically important early years {birth to age six}.

Additional problems linked to television include eating disorders, obesity, diabetes, precocious sexuality, youth violence, alcoholism, depression, anxiety and family stress among others.

There is no question about the extensive, often seemingly unrelated, damage that can be done to children who watch T.V. In her article, Dr. Hart refers the reader to a video produced by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood {CCFC}. This organization advocates and actively promotes government intervention and regulation of advertising to children.

While regulation may help, for me it is not the answer. PARENTS AND NOT THE GOVERNMENT, are responsible for raising their children. The simple, immediate and most effective answer for this serious threat to your children is for you to "just say NO to T.V.!" Get it out of your house, if necessary... at least for the first two or three years. Thereafter, limit viewing to "Nature" and other carefully selected programs for no more than one or two hours a day.

Now, I know that for many of you this may seem to be far from simple, and you may think it's  impracticable and almost impossible for you to do. But I can assure you that it can be done. Many parents, just like you, have and are currently following the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines... No T.V. for the first two years of life and no more than one or two hours of monitored total media time per day thereafter. {My own daughter, Laura, didn't know what a T.V. was until she was four!}      

So, support the CCFC, attach a bumper sticker, complain about those nasty corporations, join a protest, lobby congress, if you like, but for goodness sakes... be a RESPONSIBLE parent. Nagging exists because YOU "give in" and allow it... not because of some dumb "Barbie" doll. YOUR CHILD'S FUTURE DEPENDS ON YOU... not advertising and certainly not the government! Say "NO" to T.V. and "YES" to becoming a positive, knowledgeable and effective parent.

Bernard Schencker