To TV, or not to TV?

When my baby was still itty bitty, I did not like it that the television hypnotized her the way it did. Every time she would become entranced, whether it was by a soccer game her dad was watching, a swirling computer screen saver, or a blinking marquee above the Times Square drug store, I would start thinking,
This is it! This is the beginning of couch potatoville, laziness, hyperactivity!!!
Ask anyone, I was like a traffic cop when it came to TV. I would turn her around, sometimes even leave the room. I was afraid her tender brain would get damaged, too used to this artificial stimulation.
Then one day she started laughing at it, reacting to certain commercials where muppets salsa danced in a congo line.
I realized that if I put on a half-hour cartoon, I could do the dishes or check my email or write my blog in peace!
Ooooh, but then you say,
"Let me just do this one thing, since she's not complaining. Then this other thing. Oh, I'll just do this real quick." And before I know it, the TV has been my baby sitter for 3 hours. Not good.
But why, exactly? What is wrong with TV?
I decided to talk to a few ladies and find out what they thought.
One mother, "Elizabeth" says she used to limit the amount of TV her children watched to 1 hour of educational programming in the morning and perhaps a video in the afternoon.
"When I turned off the TV", she says, "my kids would be more creative. It was really neat to watch them think of things to do, make up games to play on their own, whereas in front of the TV, they would just lie there."
Elizabeth feels that watching television is an extremely passive activity that doesn't require much from your brain in comparison to say, a book or the radio where you are forced to visualize events and places for your self.
"As humans, we crave knowledge" she says, "and the television takes time away from this quest for knowledge."
I mentioned to Elizabeth that there are many educational shows on television and asked if she felt these programs were a positive thing.
"I believe that I learned to read from the Electric Company and the programs can be fun and beneficial to your kids but they shouldn't be their only source of stimulation and learning because they do not teach concentration or creativity."
She says TV takes away from time that could be spent out doors and that her doctor once mentioned that there has been a rise in Vitamin D deficiencies in the past years and that those in the medical profession suspect it has to do with kids spending so much time indoors watching TV and not getting enough sun.
Elizabeth says that she spends about 2 hours a day in front of the TV but that she tries to keep her mind active while watching by doing puzzles, crocheting or playing solitaire. She used to encourage activity while watching TV when her children were small as well by giving them crayons and paper or coloring books to use while watching their morning program.

I mentioned to Elizabeth that I sometimes found myself using the TV as a baby sitter and felt extremely guilty about it and tried not to do it anymore.
"This is such an easy thing to fall into", she says, "especially with 24 hour kids programming. I sometimes used to do the same thing but you really have to be strong about regulating it. It should not be done often, you should not take advantage of it." It can be helpful but if you find you know you cannot control yourself, you should avoid it all together.
I asked Elizabeth if she was happy with the choices she made when her kids were small.
"Yes" she said, "because as they got older, I noticed that they were very good at regulating themselves when it came to the TV. My youngest son actually goes for weeks at a time without watching TV. He only watches if there is something that really interests him".
Elizabeth got a lot of flack from other people when they learned of her stance on TV watching when it came to her kids but now, she says she is glad she stuck to her guns.

Corrina, a brand new mom, told me that she plans on not letting her baby watch any TV at all unless she is perhaps visiting someone who is watching or is watching with her cousins or friends. She says that she feels television provides tons of unnecessary stimulation and causes an inability to embrace other types of stimulation.
"Parents should take responsibility for stimulating their kid's minds, not television." Corrina told me that she learned from a class at her university that television programs contain something called a "jolt". A jolt is a message that gets sent to you from the TV that causes your body to release a burst of adrenaline. Jolts are caused every time a scene changes or when there is a noise like a gun shot or a wailing siren.
"Ten years ago", she says, "there were about 10 jolts per minute on an average television show. Now, the number of jolts has more than doubled."
Why is this of concern? Because our brains get addicted to these jolts and this is part of the reason why it is so difficult for us to tear our eyes away from the TV, even if we don't give a hoot about what's on.

So, TV itself is not an enemy, the enemy is our lack of self control. Both of these moms believe TV should be a treat, not a necessity and that it is up to us to help our children learn to be creative and entertain themselves. I mean, you don't ever want your kids to say,
"But I don't have anything to do!" just because you turned off the TV, do you?
Moderation, as with all things, seems to be the key.