We've all heard the reports about the potential hazards of children watching television. We've talked about some of them here in fact. Now a new study, published this week in the journal Child Development, issues warnings that simply having the television on in the background may cause problems with children's ability to concentrate and learn.
In this study researchers looked at 50 children between the ages of 1 and 3, observing their free play both while the TV was on and while it was off. During the former, the children were more restless and distracted. When the TV was off, "the child gets an intent look on their face, they lean into the toy, their extraneous body movements decrease," wrote Dr. Daniel Anderson, a co-author of the study and a professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts. "When they're in that state, they're much more likely to be learning."
This isn't actually the first study to show that background television may be problematic. I talked with Lisa Guernsey, author of Into the Minds of Babes: How Screen Time Affects Children from Birth to Age Five, about just this subject. (My interview with her isn't yet live on Body, Mind and Child; but watch for it!) In her excellent book, Lisa writes:
[B]ackground television, which...gets very little attention, has been shown in recent scientific studies to have the potential to do harm to very young children. The repercussions have nothing to do with attention deficits or "zoning out." Instead, they hinge on three critical elements of children's growth in their youngest years: their ability to engage in pretend play, their interactions with their parents, and their efforts to learn language.
Now there's evidence that background television may have even greater repercussions.
According to Lisa, "About 39 percent of families with babies, infants and preschoolers up to 4 years old said that the television was on most or all of the time. In other words, two in five American families acknowledged raising their children against the constant conversations and continually changing images of an audiovisual display."
Need some background noise as you go about your chores? Put on some music! Expose your child to a wide variety of styles at an early age, and you'll help promote an appreciation for a valuable art form. But don't forget that it's also important -- for both you and your child -- to experience the benefits of silence as well.
Comments