CFK Reports From: Electronic Media in the Lives of Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers and Their Parents
Event: Panel
Organized By: Kaiser Family Foundation-Program for the Study of Entertainment and Health
Where/When: May 24, 2006; Barbara Jordan Conference Center
By: Martha Pitts
The debate on the impact of electronic media—television, computers, DVD, etc.—on children and their development was the focus of this panel and the subject of a new Kaiser report that showed how parents use children’s media to help them cope.
The report was based on a national survey of 1,051 parents with children ages 6 months to 6 years old and a series of focus groups across the country. The study comes at a time when Sesame Street recently produced a new line of videos targeted to children as young as 6 months, and BabyTV, a 24/7 channel dedicated to entertaining children ages 2 and under, launched two weeks ago.
Although other types of electronic media were discussed, television was the focus. The Kaiser report revealed that about 66% of children ages 6 months to 6 years watch television every day. Nearly 32% of these children live in households where the television is on all or most of the time. In addition, 30% live in households where the TV is on during meals all or most of the time. Thirty-three percent of the parents surveyed said that their children have a TV in their bedroom.
Elinor Ochs, professor of anthropology at UCLA, said that in her study of 32 families in the Los Angeles-area, she found that most parents, usually tired and stressed from work, withdrew from their kids when they got home by turning on the television for the kids.
Although the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that children younger than 24 months of age not be exposed to electronic screens, Ellen Wartella, executive vice chancellor and provost of University of California at Riverside and member of the National Academy of Sciences Board on Children, Youth and Families, said the issue is not whether children should watch television but rather whether the content of the programming is appropriate.
Vicki Rideout, vice president and director of Kaiser’s Program for the Study of Entertainment Media and Health, showed a video of one of the focus groups, which was composed of mothers explaining their reason for letting their children watch television.
The following excerpts from the clip showed the layers of ambiguity the mothers felt regarding television-watching and their children.
“TV babysits the kids.”
“I get stuff done—just enough to get that 15 minutes of work done.”
“They’re learning a lot of colors, shapes. Mommy doesn’t have a lot of time to do a lot of the instruction. And they don’t get [the instruction] in daycare.”
“I made him addicted to TV.”
“I feel like a horrible mother even though they’re watching good shows”
Dr. Stanley Greenberg, author and clinical professor of psychology and pediatrics at George Washington Medical School, said that parents were being misled by reports that seemed to indicate television had positive effects on early childhood development. “We know what’s healthy—interactive experiences tailored to a child’s individual need,” he said. Greenberg likened watching television to watching someone flip flash cards, with little brain activity occurring.
Most of the other panel members argued that television was interactive.
“Television is anything but passive,” Wartella said. “The notion of TV as a boob tube has been dispelled,” she said.
“What’s important for children is that there is a balance,” Alice Cahn, vice president of programming and development for Cartoon Network, said. “I disagree that screen-based activity can’t be part of that balance.”