Page 3 | Effects of television: What do YOU think?

Donk · 2008-09-22T19:56:20+00:00

This weeks TES magazine has a worrying article about several pieces of recent research into the effects of television on children. here What do you think of the article?

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Set a reminder

CountessDracula · 24/09/2008 10:41

apart from anything else it isnt' good for social skills is it?

snorkle · 24/09/2008 11:43

The book 'freakonomics' reckoned the amount of TV children watched had no relation to educational outcome.

nooka · 24/09/2008 13:24

Having no TV was good for my siblings social lives as they had to go to their friends houses to watch TV there. It was bad for my social life because I had no idea what my class mates were talking about, and they quickly sussed on that I was fibbing about having a TV (I wasn't very good about inventing programmes). I guess that would be less of an issue now as the number of channels has gone up, so there is less of a common experience. Certainly I am aware I do not have the same cultural references as people of a similar age. I am all for being careful about what children watch, and how much, and making sure that there is a balance of family time and active time. But having your head stuck in a book (the way I spent a large amount of my childhood) is equally antisocial.

NotAnOtter · 24/09/2008 21:37

nooka i would delight in my dd being antisocial by having her nose stuck in a book

i do thnk the social issue is one i have to address

dc4 does not know power rangers etc so this does set him apart from peers - he has strength of character so i try not to worry

with the advent of sky/digital - kids dont all watch the same stuff as we did anyway...ie they dont go into scchool and say ' did you see terry and june last night?' cos they all watch different stuff

nooka · 25/09/2008 13:10

I love seeing my children with their noses stuck in a book too (esp ds who is dyslexic). It is just that electronics are not the only anti-social behavior, any thing taken to extremes can be problematic. I think it is very important to have a balance, and for most people that involves at least some time watching TV. Of course that can mean watching drivel some of the time, but there is lots of good stuff too, which the anti TV people seem to ignore. For example my children really enjoy watching nature programmes, science stuff (including accessible things like Braniac), films and old TV "from our day". These all form part of their understanding of the world, and are part of what the family has in common, as we enjoy watching these things together and talking about them. I do think that is very different to the family that has many TVs, all turned on all the time, which children then watch on their own instead of spending any time together. Of course that is a problem, because there is no quiet space, no allowance of boredom and little communal activity. The "how" and "what" of TV viewing need to be considered alongside the "how much".

Overmydeadbody · 25/09/2008 13:12

My objection to television is the adverts and subliminal messages and basic brainwashing that goes on. That is why I do not have a tv or want DS to watch it.

DVDs, on th eother hand, are another matter as there are no adverts on them (or at least, not the ones DS watches).

nooka · 25/09/2008 13:57

No brainwashing in dvds? Watch a few Disney films and think again

Horton · 25/09/2008 21:31

I think it's scaremongering. The slate.com article makes some really sensible points. FWIW, I know someone with seven kids. She has the television on CBeebies all day long (as would I, frankly, if I had seven kids in the house). All her children are just fine, doing brilliantly at school/nursery and as bright as buttons.

My DD is two. I let her watch whatever she wants to watch and then the TV is switched off at the end of the programme (I record stuff she likes and use the BBC iPlayer). Some days she watches hours of television, other days none at all. Her language skills are excellent (sample recent sentence: If I put books in bookcase away, can we go to swings after next?), she has no problems concentrating on some quite complicated books with proper stories and will often get a book out and 'read' me the story with the help of the pictures. I know she's only one child and it proves nothing but if TV was really as bad as they say, shouldn't I be seeing at least some negative effects? I genuinely can't see that it's affecting her badly at all. In fact, I think some of it has taught her about things that we haven't had the chance to see together (snow, lion cubs, farms,elephants etc etc etc).

HeinzSight · 25/09/2008 21:41

I don't have tvs in my childrens' rooms, DS1(nearly 12), DS2 (9) and DD (1). I ration their tv viewing a fair bit now. When the boys were younger I have to confess to using tv as a bit of a crutch. DS1 was a real handful and it seemed 'safer' to have him sat down quietly watching tv. What I have found is, the more tv he watches, the more aggressive he tends to behave.

However, DS1 has always been a very enthusiastic reader, I guess this is partly due to him not having a tv in his room.

HeinzSight · 25/09/2008 21:45

I don't have tvs in my childrens' rooms, DS1(nearly 12), DS2 (9) and DD (1). I ration their tv viewing a fair bit now. When the boys were younger I have to confess to using tv as a bit of a crutch. DS1 was a real handful and it seemed 'safer' to have him sat down quietly watching tv. What I have found is, the more tv he watches, the more aggressive he tends to behave.

However, DS1 has always been a very enthusiastic reader, I guess this is partly due to him not having a tv in his room.

bookswapper · 25/09/2008 21:54

At least I know my DS will have something to talk about in Freshers Week...

early Lazytown episodes!

juuule · 25/09/2008 22:13

My children generally have unlimited access to tv. It doesn't appear to have had any detrimental effects so far. They are 21,18,17, 16, 13,11,10,8 and 5. They still have outside interests. They go out. They read. They do other stuff.

If it gets annoying then whoever it's annoying will ask for it to be switched off. If everyone else is okay with that then it's switched off otherwise that person goes somewhere else for peace and quiet.