TV & Toddlers

(post by Marissa) I changed my major one time to Early Childhood Education (1 semester!) and at first chalked it up as a loss of a semester. However, I did learn some really interesting things that in my opinion made the semester worth it. One thing in particular was children's physical and mental development. We studied the children in orphanages in Ukraine and discovered why they did not grow physically despite the fact they were being fed, etc. The main thing was touch..they received no physical contact for days, weeks, months. Therefore, they did not develop physically. BYU has a study abroad program where all the students really do is go to these orphanages and hold the babies and play with the toddlers, which in turn allows them to develop physically.

As for mental development, we learned that nearly all of a child's brain is fully developed by the age of 5. We learned that children should watch no TV at all before the age of 2, and some studies suggest optimal is not before the age of 4. Even if they are learning things, the key at the young age is brain development because if they have a strong brain then they can quickly learn things and will be ahead of kids who maybe learned some things watching TV. The reason is the brain neurons do not connect during TV viewing. The amount of connections you have affects your intelligence (remember intelligence and knowledge are completely different). You have a window of opportunity for the brain neurons to connect. I am not a neuroscience major and so I don't understand everything and can't remember all of the technical terms, but the overall gist was TV stunts a child's overall brain development.

All of this got started from an article I was reading about the link between TV watching in children and ADHD. There are controversies over it, but I really do belive it. I mean it makes sense. Children with ADHD has certianly increased over the years, and I'm sure there is no debate that children's TV watching has as well. I know there could be a lot of lurking variables, but I am a believer. I don't have kids yet so obviously it's difficult to say I will never put my child in front of a TV before 4, but knowing the affects makes it more important to resist the urge.

Childhood Television Watching Correlated to Later Attention Problems

By: Rick Nauert, Ph.D. Senior News Editor
Reviewed by: John M. Grohol, Psy.D.
on September 6, 2007

Watching television more than two hours a day early on in childhood can lead to attention problems later on as a teen, according to a recently published long-term New Zealand study.
“Those who watched more than two hours, and particularly those who watched more than three hours, of television per day during childhood had above-average symptoms of attention problems in adolescence,” Erik Landhuis of the University of Otago reported in a study published in the August 2007 issue of Pediatrics.
The researchers observed a nearly 40% increase in attention problems amongst those who watched television more often than those who watched it less often.
The increase in attention problems was also independent of whether a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder was made prior to adolescence.
“This latest study adds to the growing body of evidence that suggests parents should take steps to limit the amount of TV their children watch [early in their lives],” said Bob Hancox, one of the researchers.
The team studied the long-term habits and behaviors of 1,037 children born in Dunedin, New Zealand between April 1972 and March 1973. The children aged 5 to 11 watched an average of 2.05 hours of weekday television. From age 13 to 15, time spent in front of the television rose to an average of 3.1 hours a day.
Young children who watched a lot of television were more likely to continue the habit as they got older, but even if they did not, the damage was done, the study said.
“This suggests that the effects of childhood viewing on attention may be long lasting,” Landhuis notes. He offers several possible explanations for the association.
One is that the rapid scene changes common to many TV programs may overstimulate the developing brain of a young child, and could make reality seem boring by comparison.
“Hence, children who watch a lot of television may become less tolerant of slower-paced and more mundane tasks, such as school work,” he writes.
It is also possible that TV viewing may supplant other activities that promote concentration, such as reading, games, sports and play, he says. The lack of participation inherent in TV watching might also condition children when it comes to other activities.
It’s not clear why this link wasn’t reported sooner, given that the last data collected was in 1988, over 19 years ago.

Another interesting article on brain development: http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/4356.htm (Discusses stress level in children and brain development and effects of loving relationships)

It's crazy to me to think how much affects these babies at a young age. When you think it doesn't matter..like when they are babies..it matters the most.

So, most of you mom's probably already know this from some book or magazine, but I am still gaining my knowledge from random articles and my 1 semester of Early Childhood Education and I thought I would share. :)