Here's an interesting article (http://family.msn.com/tool/article.aspx?dept=health&sdept=hsy&name=me_042604_toomuchtv&signup=true) on child development, and how TV influences child development.

The link is there for those who want to read the article, but three big points in brings up is that:

1.) Small children, even under the age of 2, typically watch two hours or more TV per day. On the bright side, most of the TV they watch is educational in nature, like Sesame Street.

2.) Previous studies have shown that children learn far more through real-life interaction with the environment, other children, and their parents, than through watching it on TV, especially in the pre-verbal stages of development. (It was tested by showing them something on TV, and showing them the same thing in person. The children who saw it in person were able to repeat things much better than the ones who saw it on TV.)

3.) The programs, while educational, may not be teaching children what they need to know. Children below the age of 2 should be learning to speak their native language, not necessarily be able to sing the alphabet, or identify specific shapes and colors.

So what do you think? Can TV help kids learn? Do your kids currently watch it? If you don't have kids, but expect to eventually, will you let them watch TV from very early on in life? What do you see as the potential harmful effects and benefits?

As potential harmful effects, I see the brainwashing they serve on the TV. I don't watch it, my kids don't have to watch it (figuratively, I have no kids I would know of). Also, aggression and promotion of trickery over honesty. Next, too much of brutally up to the point approach to sex for a kid to develop properly in that regard if exposed to too much TV. I damn hate those moronic troglodyte toons that brainsuck my brother! I hate those debilitating witches & magic toons that brainsuck my sister! I don't damn want that for my own damn last will beneficiary.

Good effect include such channels as National Geographic, Animal Planet or Discovery Channels which are a wonderful source of easy to absorb knowledge for kids and well, everyone. Those news channels are quite a good thing to have, especially BBC could help your kids develop a passable accent.

I have a problem with the "Screen Time Nazi's" of which my wife is one of them. I believe that there is nothing wrong with age appropriate television. My son is now eight and no longer watches kid aimed edutainment. Now he likes good old fashioned cartoons and shows that the main characters are kids (translation- he is addicted to cartoon network and Nickolodeon). I've watched most of the shows and have no problem with them. He also loves to be outside playing basketball, soccer, and bicycle riding.

As to the educational side, I think he learned a lot from television when he was younger. I remember him wailing like someone stabbed him when Elmo's fish died. He learned a lot from watching Blue's clues. Blue's clues was an interesting show. They would show the same episode at the same time for a week. On Monday and Tuesday kids would watch it without saying a word. By Friday they would be screaming at the characters along with the fake audience.

Parents and children get out of television what they want. If the kids watch trashy soap operas with their mother all day, they probably aren't going to learn much. However, there are plenty of good shows for kids to watch. I admit to watching some of my sons cartoons for I even think they are cool. They may not be educational, but they are very social and the kids talk about it at lunch and recess, just like us adults do at the water cooler. Thanks HBO :)

Another point I saw is that they think that excessive TV viewing my lead to ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). The flashing lights and fast movement (apparently) condition the child's brain to accept that as normal, and they can't turn it down a notch as they age.

Anyway, the real bane of TV isn't soap operas, it's reality TV.

Ugh, I can't stand it. You can't turn on the TV without seeing it anymore. Survivor, Fear Factor, American Idol, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Temptation Island, The Swan, and even that stupid Asian one called Extreme Elimination Challenge or something like that. I feel like I can't turn on the TV without risking having my brain melt.

The American Pediatric Association (that's probably not the perfectly correct name, but you get the point) recommends NO TV AT ALL for children under two years of age. We weren't complete Nazis about it, but the TV was never on as "background noise" when my son was small, and when we did sit down for some TV time with him it was something like a Baby Einstein (http://www.babyeinstein.com/) video and we'd play with him while it ran. It will be interesting to see if we can accomplish something similar with Baby #2.

Nowadays, he's almost four years old and is very good about entertaining himself. He doesn't have to be planted in front of the TV to sit quietly by himself so I can do things like make dinner. TV-time is a privilege that gets awarded and revoked based on behavior, just like dessert and how many bedtime stories he gets. I will admit that every now and then we do use the TV as a babysitter (like when a contractor came to the house and we both had to talk with him) but those occassions are scarce.

Learning how to interact with other people is an essential skill, and one that TV can't teach. Letters, numbers, colors, problem-solving... that's all there, but it still has to be supported with a large measure of parental involvement.

Chev, we've had this discussion before - the shows you say teach deception rather than honesty are NOT appropriate for the age group under discussion. We're talking about kids under 5 here, not the 8+ group that's the audience for the shows you hate so much. Guess what - I hate them, too, and they'll be the first thing to go if I see signs of that behavior in my child. I'm hoping, however, that by the time he's ready for those shows, he's got a sufficient grounding in proper behavior that the negative messages aren't the ones to sink in.

Kids today are so busy, with preschool and soccer and dance and all the other crap we think they need to fill their time (but that's another topic...) that they need and deserve some time to just chill. TV is OK for that purpose, as long as parents are involved enough to know what they're watching.

@ Rally - Trust me, it's infinitely harder with two. The second one naturally wants to do what the first one is doing, pretty much from birth. We are, unfortunately, much more lenient with my daughter than we were with my son when it comes to TV watching (although they still watch maybe an hour a day, less on the weekends when we can tag-team them).

My daughter, Sofia, has managed to avoid any symptoms of ADD or the like and I believe that she is scary-smart (maybe it's just the proud dad in me). My son, Miles, has about the most active imagination that I've seen, including all of his friends and school-mates. I chalk this up to a habit we have in my house, which I recommend to all parents: Don't just read to your kids -- that's great and fine and all of that, but at least one night a week, gather the family, light a candle, turn out the lights and everyone has to make up a story (even the 2 or 3 year olds, you help them).

I found that this little ritual is enormously rewarding, not only for the kids but for my wife and I as well. I've drawn on the various personages on these Boards for material, and I've spun stories about Sir Yerril of Morningmist, Blackthorne the TA (college pun for my wife), Shura, the misunderstood nice guy (that was good for an internal chuckle), and even Rallymama and her really cool car (my son loved that).

Point being, that I think a lot of the so-called "experts" are alarmists -- anything in moderation should be OK, so long as it's age-appropriate.

Just a few rambling thoughts at 11:30 pm . . .

Kids definitely don't go outside and play enough these days. I definitely think that TV should be kept to a minimum and they should spend more time doing stuff with their family or their friends. Plus the fact that most of what is on TV is a complete load of rubbish anyway.

Not to play the devil's advocate or anything, but I think I disagree with many of your poinions. I myslef have watched TV since I was a small infant and I believe I gained something from it.

When I reached school, I was farther along in my linguistic skills as well as my writing and reading. Maybe there were other things as well, but I think that watching shows like Sesame Street helped me develope faster, and enjoyably.

But hey, I'm gifted. ;)