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February 2013 Moms
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Going back to the TV discussion...

kelly321kelly321 member
in February 2013 Moms
A few months ago I mentioned I had gotten a book called "Screen Time" about television and children. Well, I finally got around to reading it during my 6+ hour train ride today, and I would really recommend it to anyone who is interested in what the studies say. Her mantra is that it's all about "content, context, and your child," and she approaches the whole subject pretty objectively, I thought. She basically just discusses study after study, linking them according to what they were investigating, and highlights the advantages and disadvantages of different kinds of watching (foreground or background), and different shows.

Sorry, I don't mean for this to be an amazon book review, but I thought that since it's a topic we've discussed before, it might be interesting to some of you, too! 

(Disclaimer: I have no share in the profits (although if you want to send me a few bucks for recommending it to you, I won't say no ;) )) 

BFP1: DD1 born April 2011 at 34w1d via unplanned c/s due to HELLP, DVT 1 week PP
BFP2: 3/18/12, blighted ovum, natural m/c @ 7w4d
BFP3: DD2 born Feb 2013 at 38w4d via unplanned RCS due to uterine dehiscence

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Re: Going back to the TV discussion...

  • PhieryBFlyPhieryBFly member
    Does this book discuss advertising at all? That's one of my main sticking points on my kid watching tv... I don't want my child to obsess about McDonalds or the latest toy they'll only play with for half an hour then be done with. I'd like to see any research on that type of thing specifically.
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  • BabyMayinMarchBabyMayinMarch member
    Can I ask if she gets into specific age ranges? 

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  • brachysirabrachysira member
    Yeah, I think no TV when you are older does make you culturally incompetent.  But this is from a mom who threw "no screen time until 2" out the window in November when we were sick and is now typing while my baby watches "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood."  When it's not 9 degrees out and I have less morning sickness, I promise it will be better...
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  • Drea926Drea926 member
    Teacher Clark said:
    I will probably get flamed for this, but I want my kid to watch some TV. I want her to know popular culture and be able to relate to the kids in her class. For instance, she and almost every other 5YO in our area, saw Frozen over Christmas break. When the kids at school role played Frozen at recess, she could be an active part because she saw it. We have always said that if it affected her academics or socialization we would set stricter guidelines. So far she's excelling at both and I see no need to curtail her TV watching. BTW, Frozen was awesome. I highly suggest ya'll go see it!

    I don't see that as flameworthy at all. I completely agree. I want my child to be social and liked by his peers. Pop culture is a huge part of that.

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  • wifeofadamwifeofadam member
    Kelly - thanks for the rec.  We recently took the TV out of the kids' room to try to improve the quality of their sleep.  They were only allowed to watch it for thirty minutes before bed (and only pre-approved videos because we don't have cable or anything), but after hearing what you once wrote about the blue screen and it affecting sleep quality, I decided to see what taking it out would do.  We'll see.

    There are definitely some pop culture references that my kids do not get or understand and it is apparent when they are around their cousins.  It doesn't seem to bother my kids though.  We are lucky that the kids are homeschooled and the majority of other homeschoolers don't allow the pop culture influences in their homes either, so my kids don't feel left out with their peers.  The pop culture influences are one big reason we actually chose to homeschool.  I don't ever want my kids feeling left out, but I also don't want to feel pressured to expose them to things that make me uncomfortable just to conform and fit in. 

    With that said, I have no issue with many of the Disney Pixar films and my kids have seen most of them.  We haven't seen Frozen yet, but probably will at some point.  My concern is more with the Spongebob Squarepants, Disney channel celebrities, pop music, and other stuff like that.  I'm fine with my kids being ignorant to that stuff, even if it means they don't relate to a lot of other kids.
        
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  • holly321holly321 member
    Teacher Clark said:

    PhieryBFly said:

    Does this book discuss advertising at all? That's one of my main sticking points on my kid watching tv... I don't want my child to obsess about McDonalds or the latest toy they'll only play with for half an hour then be done with. I'd like to see any research on that type of thing specifically.

    I know disney Jr and nick Jr don't have advertising. I think there are a few other kids network that don't as well.

    They usually don't, but around Christmas there was a lot of toy advertisement.
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  • kelly321kelly321 member
    Yes, @PhieryBFly, she does discuss advertising, even getting into studies which have looked at how the food pyramid would look if you went by the amount of advertising they get. She talks about networks with no commercials (and how some moms are annoyed by PBS's "Sponsored by..."s since they're really nothing other than advertisements)

    And @BabyMayinMarch, yes she talks about different age groups to the extent that the studies break them down and notes the lack of information for under 2-s (or 3s) if that is the case. She also specifically talks about some studies that have been done on babies, how much they can learn from videos (in brief: they *can* learn from them but need many more repetitions than if they're learning from a live adult), what kind of shows/videos help them learn the best, whether shows that claim to teach your kid a foreign language can actually do so (in brief: they can learn vocab from a good show, yes, but grammar doesn't appear to be learned via television), etc.

    Really, she talks about pretty much every subject you can think of around this issue. The ONLY issue I had with the book is that it was obviously written sometime in 2006 (she mentions at a couple points things that are "planned" or "coming soon in 2007"), and at the end she mentions some studies that are in progress. They're probably completed now and it would be nice if she did an updated edition!

    BFP1: DD1 born April 2011 at 34w1d via unplanned c/s due to HELLP, DVT 1 week PP
    BFP2: 3/18/12, blighted ovum, natural m/c @ 7w4d
    BFP3: DD2 born Feb 2013 at 38w4d via unplanned RCS due to uterine dehiscence

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  • ally2011ally2011 member
    +adamwife+ said:
    Kelly - thanks for the rec.  We recently took the TV out of the kids' room to try to improve the quality of their sleep.  They were only allowed to watch it for thirty minutes before bed (and only pre-approved videos because we don't have cable or anything), but after hearing what you once wrote about the blue screen and it affecting sleep quality, I decided to see what taking it out would do.  We'll see.

    There are definitely some pop culture references that my kids do not get or understand and it is apparent when they are around their cousins.  It doesn't seem to bother my kids though.  We are lucky that the kids are homeschooled and the majority of other homeschoolers don't allow the pop culture influences in their homes either, so my kids don't feel left out with their peers.  The pop culture influences are one big reason we actually chose to homeschool.  I don't ever want my kids feeling left out, but I also don't want to feel pressured to expose them to things that make me uncomfortable just to conform and fit in. 

    With that said, I have no issue with many of the Disney Pixar films and my kids have seen most of them.  We haven't seen Frozen yet, but probably will at some point.  My concern is more with the Spongebob Squarepants, Disney channel celebrities, pop music, and other stuff like that.  I'm fine with my kids being ignorant to that stuff, even if it means they don't relate to a lot of other kids.

    I just heard today on the radio news blip that there is a recent study saying that kids who have screen time right before bed do not sleep as well as those who don't. Just FYI....only heard it very quickly.

    We are so thankful that our second daughter, Lillian Elizabeth "Lily", was born healthy and happy on February 11, 2013.  We love her to pieces.  

    We lost our first daughter, Hannah Grace on May 4, 2011.  She was buried on May 14 during a beautiful service at my home church. We are grateful that if she could not be here with us, that she is healed and whole with the Lord. We look forward to the day when we will get to meet her. We love her so much.


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