TV or Face to Face time: Does it Matter?

Often times parents think that the words they speak to their children don't matter.  Are the kids even paying attention anyway? It turns out that yes, what parents say matters to their children. Use language that is appropriate for your child and help your child learn words to increase their vocabulary.  It is important for parents to ask their child about their feelings, past or current events and to use a language with children that allows the child to increase his or her vocabulary.  Babies as young as six months can recognize new words.  Parents need to do all they can to help their child have a wide vocabulary base by the age of four.  
By the age of four, it can be obvious if a child has an increased or decreased vocabulary.  Decreased vocabulary is associated with lower income families therefore greater vocabulary is associated with higher income households.  The vocabulary spoken in lower income households, is typically more  simple everyday vocabulary such as, do you want more juice? where language spoken in higher income households, for example was, "we need to stop at the intersection to let the 18 wheeler go by".  Conversation in higher income households also consisted of asking children about their feelings, and past or current events and questions were more specific.
Does it matter if a child learns vocabulary from a television or from real conversation? Yes, it does matter.  When a child learns a word from television, it does not mean that the child understands the language.  In Lisa Guernsey's book Screen Time: From Baby Videos to Educational Software-Affects Your Young Child, She notes that "developmental psychologists and cognitive scientists are starting to discover just how much a person requires real, person to person contact to learn language.  This interaction is something that televisions, DVDs or even interactive computer programs cannot replicate".   Some parents of children who appear to have a speech delay, think they should buy DVDs that encourage language. In most cases, the parent can "just describe what is going on to help their child learn language".  Speaking in slow, enunciated patterns helps children learn language.  Parents need to remember that "if raised in normal loving households, babies learn to speak without much intervention". 
Language/educational DVDs and television programming lack the "evidence that electronic media alone can teach someone language, how to string verbs and nouns and prepositions together in a meaningful way, how to communicate ideas through speech". This does not mean that television and DVDs do not teach anything at all. Any parent who allows their child to watch television, can share an experience in which the child has copied language or behavior from television.  This behavior and language can be good or bad.  Some children demonstrate violent behavior and some demonstrate caring and sharing behavior. It just depends on what the child is exposed to.
"Education experts say that a child's level of vocabulary before entering school is  a strong predicator of her academic performance years down the road".  Therefore if you have young children or care for any young children, you should encourage face to face interaction with lots of vocabulary.  This will help them improve their chances of a successful educational career.

Rated G

 Most cartoons are rated G, with the G rating only meaning that the content does not contain sex, violence or explicit language.  But Have you ever been watching a cartoon and there is a "scary" scene? think about some of the sceens in Toy Story, the witch in Snow White, the hyena scene in Lion King. Some of these movies which are widely viewed by children as young as age 2, 3,4 and 5 are usually intended for children over the age of 6. 
Children can pick up on the emotion from the movie though the scene or the music.  You may notice your child will get scared while watching rated G Disney movie.  Even babies who are held while watching a movie, either rated G or R can pick up on the emotions from their mother while she is holding them during the movie.  The baby may not be able to understand the content, but picks up on the mothers emotional reaction.  The lasting impact of "scary" movie scenes is not yet understood.  Usually if a child views a scary scene over and over again, they will remember it. But hopefully if they only view it once, they should not remember it. Although I think that is an individual reaction. 
If you think your child has bad memories from a movie you can ask them to draw the movie and how they feel when they watch it. You can also pretend play parts of the movie, this should give you feedback on how your child feels during or towards the movie. 

 Lisa Guernsey's book, Screen Time: How Electronic Media-From Baby Video's to Educational Software -Affects Your Young Child details a study performed in 1971.  This study divided preschoolers into two groups.  Both groups exhibited similar play styles before the study. One group was exposed to violent cartoon programming and the other was the control group which watched non-violent cartoons.  "After several weeks of exposure, the kids watching violent programs were kicking, chocking or hitting their classmates more often than were children from the control group". 

"So far, I can only conclude that parents will do best to consider the needs and personalities of their own children.  Some kids are especially sensitive" (Guernsey).  Again, it is up to the parent to control what their child watches.  Even some rated G cartoon movies require some fast forwarding through some scenes. 

"The following review sites can help parents sort out which children's movies are appropriate for very young children and avoid the ones that might be upsetting them". (Guernsey, Appendix I).

Parents Choice
www.parentschoice.com
"A well designed site that spotlights media that is appropriate and engaging for children.  Using the product finder you can so a search on, say, home videos for 2 year olds" 

Family Entertainment Finder from ParentCenter.com
Parentcenter.babycenter.com/-reiews/
"This site makes clear from the outset whether a movie, DVD, or show will be appropriate for a child under age 4.  You'll see "4+" or "3+" next to the symbols at the top of the review" 

The Movie Mom
movies.yahoo.com/my/moviemom/
"Nell Minow, the "Movie Mom" can also be heard on radio stations around the county every week"

Parents Television Council
www.parentstv.org/ptc/publications/moviereviews/main.asp
"Although it is knows primarily for its analyses of  violence and sex in television programming, the PTC also offers movie reviews with age guidelines and descriptions of the parts of the movie that might upset very young viewers"

Watch TV in moderation

Is television beneficial or harmful to young children? There is not yet enough studies done on young children (ages 0-5yrs).  The reason there is not adequate research is because children from ages 0 to 5, typically do not stay in one place long enough to get results.  Some parents say their child will watch television for two hours non stop, but researchers find that even if a child appears to be watching television for such a long duration, they in fact are not.  When a child is watching television he or she will play with toys, snack, drink juice, cry, all of which are activities that take the mind away from the television set.  Researchers have also stated that young children do not have the attention span to watch TV for such a long time.  There are instances when a child perks up and tunes in when they recognize a certain song or character, but their attention quickly changes to something else.  If parents are worried that their child likes television to much, then the parent needs to simply turn off the TV, and not always use it as an option for the child. 

Some families have the television on all day everyday.  Having the TV on all day can actually be more harmful than watching a thirty minute show.  Having the TV turned on all day is harmful because the child cannot hear each word spoken, cannot not hear pauses between words, or questions.  This is harmful because the young child may end up having language issues.  The environment the child is in, is like one huge run on sentence.  This is true for having the radio on all the time as well. So if you are one of those families or knows a family who always has the TV or radio on, consider turning it off.  This will allow for more communication between parent and child.  The child will benefit greatly from more parent attention.  "Take heart, as a parent, that your child will learn just what he needs by watching, listening to and interacting with you."  

A child does not need TV, everything they learn can be taught by a parent or loving adult and other children.  Do not rely on TV as the only source of educational material in the household.  When TV is  used, use it in moderation.  It is the responsibility of the parent to control the amount and type of TV a child watches.