Friday May 16th, 2008
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TV or Not TV
Posted by Belinda Miller on May 30, 2007 - 8:10am.
When Georgia was a wee newborn, Hova rented us a movie. We got the popcorn ready, climbed upstairs to our attic TV/guest room, got the baby snuggled up, and turned on the video. About 20 minutes into the movie, when John Goodman is escaping from jail, squeezing through something of a muddy, mucky birth tunnel, I flipped out, crying and begging Hova to turn it off. Too loud! Too hectic! Too birthlike! Too much kidnapping! It was not the brainless respite I had expected. We still haven’t seen Raising Arizona.
But we did still tape and watch "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer" (the things I admit in public!). And though we never watched while Georgia was awake, even in those early months, every time the Buffster dusted a vamp with a snappy comeback, or the demons eviscerated victim after victim, I worried that the sounds of violence, snarkiness, violence, sarcasm, and violence would get into her head. And I didn’t want it to be a part of her consciousness.
So TV just became something we did less and less. Hova and I lived without a TV in New York for years, so we didn’t miss it that much. And it wasn’t an issue for Georgia until she was 6 months old and started coming to work with me. I worked in my boss’ home, and she watched TV during her lunch break. Georgia was fascinated. And as Georgia then got older and needed much more attention, my boss suggested turning it on for her. And some of the shows actually didn’t seem too bad, some very clever and cute, and I thought it couldn’t hurt. So I began turning a show on for her even when my boss wasn’t there, when I had just a few more things to do and G’s tolerance of me working was running low. It was a useful electronic babysitter for me, and I justified it.
She never sat through more than an hour. We never felt the need to watch TV at home. I was smugly appalled by a neighbor’s playroom, complete with a massive television and insipid videos of toys dancing to classical music. This was supposed to turn your child into a genius? I wasn’t going to fall for that marketing scheme. Only intelligent, attractive, creative educational television for my pre-verbal miss. Oobi, Little Bear, and Maisy met my criteria, and I was quick to turn off anything too branded, or anything that looked like an ad. I didn’t want Georgia’s mind to be ad bait!
I should probably admit that I used to produce music for television commercials so I might be more suspicious about what the commercials are trying to do — how they are trying to make you feel like you need to buy something to make your life complete. Ads can be hilarious and clever and evocative or touching, but they are always trying to get to the place inside you and, most insidiously, inside your kids, where there is a need to feel happier, healthier, stronger, smarter, cuter. And that need can only be filled, according to the ads, by buying. Kids (and adults) who aren’t taught to negotiate this barrage can succumb to a frenzy of false need. I knew all that, so I didn’t think some occasional, non-commercial TV time would be a big deal.
Then we moved to Portland and my consciousness was raised, or more accurately, I got browbeaten for letting Georgia watch TV. Sometimes when we really needed to get something accomplished, or when she was just too tired for stories but we didn’t want her going to sleep, we’d get out the Pee Wee’s Playhouse videos. At first we watched with her and pushed pause to explain confusing things, and helped her negotiate that TV is not real. We felt like it was important to teach her HOW to watch TV — and just like anything else she might encounter at that age, we wanted to be able to ease her into it. But at a parenting seminar there was a lot of talk about flat brain waves and squashing creativity and growing up in a zombiefied state. We were bad parents, playing with our daughter’s mind in irreparable ways. We felt awful, so we checked it out.
The research is downright creepy, if somewhat feeble. I certainly don’t trust the TV industry, but sometimes those anti-TV folks get in such a snit that I feel like they need a time out. I think most parents are doing the best they can, and with the geniuses cleverly marketing “educational” videos for babies, it can be a confusing world out there in the toy store. So here: the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than two hours a day of educational, non-violent television for children, and no TV for babies under two years old. Watch TV with your kids, and help them resist commercials. We did most of that instinctually, and she doesn’t watch daily, but what about those times before she was even a year old?
We decided that if she was dumbed down by any of that early TV watching we’re probably lucky. Considering she continually kicks our intellectual butts all over the parking lot, if her brain waves were any bouncier we’d be in deep trouble. We watch only DVDs and videos. Since we only have one station that’s in a constant snowstorm we don’t have to deal too much with ads, but she will someday, and I want her to know what they are about. During the promos at the beginning of DVDs she says, “You silly ad, you can’t make me watch something I don’t want to watch!” and we skip them. She loves books almost more than candy, and will play orphan baby babirusa pig for hours with two sticks and a pinecone. So I don’t think her intelligence has been compromised or that her imagination is stunted. Teaching Georgia how to watch TV, and us using TV as a tool and a treat, or even a break feels like a more realistic approach to the TV problem. I don’t want to keep her away from technology, but I want her to see, as with everything, just because it’s there doesn’t mean she has to buy it.
This raises a very interesting conversation, for sure.
BUT! Let me just take a minute to say you gotta watch Raising Arizona some night. I can see how that scene would be a bit much after recently giving birth, but you're missing out!
Whenever I tell people I don't watch TV they all say "Good for you!" And they mean it. They even tell me how they wish they didn't watch it. I do believe it is an addiction and the more people watch the more they yearn to watch. I don't see any harm in not letting kids watch TV. Books and real life have so much more to offer.
I think balance is the key to parenting. If you can create a balanced life without TV and that is important to you then that is really great. We had some high hopes in not allowing our children to watch TV, especially before they turned 3. Then reality hit. I made it until Piper was 15 months with no TV and then I got pregnant. I was so tired and sick there were times that I really needed the support. I was sad that I turned on the TV to help but I also knew that I needed to take care of myself too. She was also so particular about who she would be with I didn't have the support of other people. She now watches some shows on PBS and I feel ok about it. I can also concur that her insight and creativity don't seem to have been stunted and if they have, then I would not be able to keep up. I think doing the best we can as parents is all we can do and in this world, TV is something we have to address and manage as it is everywhere.
For those who have opinions about this topic like I did and who don't have children yet, perspective can really change when you're in the thick of it all.
Personally, I am happier without TV...I don't watch much myself & don't miss it when it's not turned on. I enjoy the paper & some radio programs...but don't like to feel like I'm being bombarded with marketing all the time. Children are especially susceptable to covert marketing messages, the constant changing of images flashing before their eyes & the violent themes that seem to portray rough behavior & violence as the humorous solution to lifes challenges & problems as a viable means of dealing with others is just wrong. There are pleanty of published, peer-reviewed journal studies that show that babies, children and even teens aren't designed or equipt to effectively process the images & lessons taught by the media AND that lengthy viewing actually causes neurons in the brain to be re-written. Children are designed to mimic & learn how to be human through human interaction. The body goes through specific growth phases from infancy through puberty where they learn how to interact with other people and how to feel & express feelings.
Marketers have recognized effective plans to reach adolescents, specifically, “researchers at Nicolodean have expressed, effective marketing plans that capture children’s attention….[media messages] must simultaneously: (a) speak to kids in a voice which acknowledges their sophistication, (b) identify and strike an emotional chord, (c) allow kids to participate and make them want to, (d) promote strategies and products that can co-exist in kids’ public and private lives, and (e) recognize that kids are generally optimistic and expect message that are optimistic (Williams, 2000 as cited in Brown, 2006).Most youth do not have the maturity to filter through the commercial media messages sent at them while research shows that most youth desire a trusted adult who will acknowledge their sophistication and will help them define who they are in light of the media messages sent to them (Brown, 2006). According to research conducted by Brown (2006) regarding messages sent by hip-hop music to middle-school students, it is children who lack developed pro-social skills who are more easily motivated by peer influence and by media messages.
Why are the visual and auditory means of marketing through media so effective? Brendtro (2006) found that imitation is a natural response in children and youth, “brain research now shows that this tendency to imitate others is programmed in the brains “mirror neurons” (Dobbs, 2006 as cited in Brendtro, 2006). Meaning, youth may not have the capacity as they search for identity to distinguish between entertainment (this blogger uses that word loosely) and behavior that is considered “normal” or behavior that will lead to peer acceptance and popularity.Further research by Ward (2005) has found that television viewing actually does stimulate the brain and may shape its development. Data collected from Ward’s (2005) research showed television viewing produced temporary changes in hormone levels in men and women. Additional studies conducted by Pardun, L’Engle, and Brown (2005 as cited in Ward, 2005) found a consistent direct connection and predictor of adolescent sexual behavior and higher-risk sexual behavior. Ward (2005, p. 69) found that “frequent viewing of mainstream TV is associated with obesity, attention problems, body image dissatisfaction, a greater level of sexual experience and lower self-esteem (among minority viewers).”Research has found that over exposure to television programming, in movies, and video games lend to more aggressive behavior that tends to extend into adulthood because aggressive behavior “is attractive, [it] generally goes unpunishes, and is presented as an effective tool for solving conflicts” (Yokata & Thompson, 2000, Villani & Joshi, 2003 as cited in Burke, 2005). The connection between obesity and television and/or small screen viewing (hand-held video games) extends beyond the notion that lessened activity leads to greater caloric intake and sedentary behavior, Klesges, Shelton & Klesges, 1993 as cited in Burke, 2005 p. 50) found that “TV viewing slows down basal metabolism.” Consider that this Blogger resides in the Western Suburbs of Chicago, media messages bombard and surround daily life. From traditional media sources such as radio, television, news papers, books, magazines and bill boards to the internet (web sites, chat rooms, blogs and My Space), video games, editorials, traveling bill boards (that is, a special truck is painted just like a bill board on all sides, a driver is paid to drive the truck in high-traffic areas during peak times), cellular ring-tones (both outgoing and incoming) advertising on grocery carts, in shopping aisles, playing on monitors in the store and in the check out line, bill-stuffers (those folded bits of advertising pamphlets that accompany many credit card bills attempting to lure the payee to purchase more for just 3 easy payments), junk mail, marketing from a 4-state lottery and casinos (river boat and land-based). Why has the media seeped into venues that didn’t welcome practices of “payola, [the practice of] product placement and sponsored journalism” (Goodman, 2006, p 83)? The answer: to reach every possible consumer in unexpected environments—such as a blog or an editorial (Goodman, 2006). What fuels the constant output, the continuous urging to hype louder, longer and yet the quality of the media output is getting worse and worse? The answer is money (and a long line of people in positions driving media output (writers, directors, stars) who have been elevated to a level of demanding a lot of money for their services Richardson, 1995).This past summer, this Blogger was at the zoo with her family and was surprised to see the large number of patrons walking through the zoo with their families while wearing ear buds attached to an MP3 player. What is happening to our macrosystem that Microsystems are embracing isolating behavior during an activity that is designed to engage families and people with each other while learning about the world beyond the TV? This Blogger recently joined a health club, not being one to watch TV frequently, this Blogger was horrified to see that each exercise machine has its own TV monitor attached to it; flat screen TV’s adorned every cubby in the locker room, the children’s nursery and the exercise floor. The same music that is played over head and on the main screens around the exercise floor is piped outside into the parking lot. Knowing the research findings from above (Klesges, Shelton & Klesges, 1993 as cited in Burke, 2005) that TV viewing slows the basal metabolism, isn’t it contraindicated to watch music videos while trying to get into cardiovascular shape?Are all media messages negative? No. Surprised? Research conducted by Singhal & Rogers (1999 as cited in Ward, 2005) found that positive messages could effectively be sent through entertainment media to promote anti-smoking campaigns, condom use, literacy education and family planning. This Blogger believes that the draw of promoting messages that ultimately encourage spending will have a much stronger presence in media than public awareness or public service campaigns. Alas, the almighty Dollar, Euro, Rupee, Pound of what have you-- wins again.All this to say...am I perfect...far from it...but if your gut is telling you that something is wrong or gives you feelings of guilt...listen.
References:
Brendtro, L. (2006). The vision of Urie Bronfenbrenner: Adults who are crazy about kids, Reclaiming Children and Youth, 15 (3), p. 162-166.Brown, V. (2006). Guiding the influence of hip-hop music on middle-school students’ feelings, thinking, and behaving, The Negro Educational Review, 57 (1-2) p. 49-68.Burke, M. (2005). Resons to turn off the screen what a mother and child psychiatrist has learned, Encounter: Education for Meaning and Social Justice, 18 (1) p. 49-53 Goodman, E., (2006) Stealth marketing and editorial policy, Texas Law Review, 85 (1) p. 83-152.Richardson, J. (1995). Dumb and dumber (cover story), New Republic, 212 (15) p. 20 – 29.Ward, L., (2005), Children, Adolescents, and the Media: The molding of minds, bodies and deeds, New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 109, p. 63-71.