Background TV – the kind young children don’t watch but experience because the television is on – is linked to problems with play, parent-child relationships, and cognitive performance. A new study in the journal “Pediatrics” suggests that kids are exposed to 4 hours of background television a day. Full Story »
Posted by Pamela Hogle - via Google News (Health), Christian Science Monitor
A good story by Stephanie Hanes, Monitor Correspondent, and a lead writer for Modern Parenthood. Her story is quite informative that is based on a recent study published online in the journal “Pediatrics.” Although the researchers recommend quite a bit of follow-up research, she wrote, they do have a couple of clear recommendations. One of those is not to let a kid have a television in his or her room. A good advice, really.
Stephanie Hanes touches on a interesting topic that has slipped through the cracks of parenting protocol. After looking into a study examining crime-story narratives in which participants viewed a news story in which the suspect/perpetrators race was hidden, white, or black, and noting how participants generally remembered things better when they were in line with what they expected, This story's racial aspect takes on a new level of intricacy. The article mentions briefly that African-American children were exposed to more background TV than their white counterparts. This could reenforce notions that AfricanAmerican parents are perhaps less responsible, and subsequently that African-Americans in general are less responsible. ... More »
I can't say this is good journalism. It reads more like an excuse to relinquish accountability for improper parenting. Propaganda perhaps?
There are no perfect parents, but there are real parents. We don't live in paradise and people have to work for a living, keep a house and rear children--among numerous other errands and chores. Expecting a child of any age to not be exposed to tv, background or otherwise, is unrealistic unless they are in daycare--and who can afford that?
In this article, the author addresses the relationship between background television exposure and "everything from lower sustained attention during playtime, lower quality parent-child interactions and reduced performance on cognitive tasks." In doing so, the author mentions that groups such as African American children, children of single-parent households, and children under 24 months old having the highest background television exposure. The article gives some context as to why ... More »
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