What appears to have spurred this (rather exciting ruling) is the introduction in France of two 24-hour infant television channels, Baby TV and BabyFirstTV. Both are owned in whole or in part by Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp.
The High Audiovisual Council (gotta love that name) ruling states:
"Television viewing hurts the development of children under 3 years old and poses a certain number of risks, encouraging passivity, slow language acquisition, over-excitedness, troubles with sleep and concentration as well as dependence on screens."
The net effect is that regular French Broadcast channels are banned from airing shows for under threes and cable channels must include a broadcast a warning statement:
"Watching television can slow the development of children under 3, even when it involves channels aimed specifically at them."
I really love this idea! When Rupert Murdoch’s BabyFirstTV first launched in The US in 2006, many parents, including me were appalled. The
Pediatricians should urge parents to avoid television viewing for children under the age of 2 years. Although certain television programs may be promoted to this age group, research on early brain development shows that babies and toddlers have a critical need for direct interactions with parents and other significant caregivers (eg, child care providers) for healthy brain growth and the development of appropriate social, emotional, and cognitive skills. Therefore, exposing such young children to television programs should be discouraged."
How many parents are aware of this statement? How many pediatricians tell parents about it (laughing snort here)? I think the warning statement idea is brilliant and should be adopted here in the
Think about it. When parents tuck their infants and toddlers in front of the TV or a baby DVD, up flashes a statement, at least as serious looking as the one warning about the FBI coming to get you if you dare to copy the DVD you’re viewing.
Wow! This works for me!
OK - I took a few liberties with my WFMW posts but some great REAL ideas visit Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer
Related Posts:
The Ancillary Impact of Too Much TV
Reasons to Limit TV - What to Tell the Relatives!
Did you enjoy this post…or at least found it interesting?
3 comments:
Love it! I wish more parents and grandparents would take note of this improtant AAP message.
I only wish I could move to France. (that should sparks someone's ire)
Actually, I beg to differ. If you sit your child down in front of the TV as a baby-sitter, without any human interaction, then perhaps the studies are right.
However, if you engage your child while watching age-appropriate television, you can actually enhance his learning potential.
For example, we watched Signing Time on PBS, and, as a result, we learned how to sign. What never occurred to me was that the repetition of the words along with the signs would cause him to be able to say "helicopter" at age 1. But because we were with him, speaking and signing, he learned more.
I also think Baby Einstein has its place. I would watch with my son, and sometimes play with our puppets while the puppets were on-screen. Mostly, I would be there to point out the interesting animals. As a result, he knew several different animal names by age 2, and correctly differentiates a whale from a fish.
It's about moderation, something that far too many people forget about.
Post a Comment