Excerpt from: Monitoring Media, On-Screen and Online
By Leann M. Lesperance, M.D., Ph.D.
Boston Children's Hospital
Brigham and Women's Hospital
and Henry H. Bernstein, D.O.
Boston Children's Hospital
Children today are exposed to a remarkable variety of media, such as television shows, video/electronic games, live and recorded music, and videos/DVDs. In fact, children of all ages spend an average of three to six hours each day doing some or all of the above.
We all want to believe that these TV programs, movies, songs and games are positive experiences for our children, with creative, educational and stimulating content.
Unfortunately, this often is not the case. Concerns have been raised and continue to grow about the negative impact these media exposures may have on children's interpersonal skills, attention span and overall health. For example, excessive television watching has been associated with childhood obesity, poor school performance and more aggressive behavior.
Children receive many direct and indirect messages from the media, some of which encourage behaviors that may be harmful to their health. As a result, parents and other child care providers need to think closely about the types of media their children see or hear in their day-to-day lives.
SETTING LIMITS
Keep these two things in mind — limit the quantity and maximize the quality. Some specific suggestions include:
Avoid all television or video watching for children younger than 2 years of age.
For children older than 2, limit all television, video/DVD, electronic/video game and computer time to less than two hours total per day.
Make sure any television show or video movie is appropriate for your child. If possible, first carefully watch it yourself.
Choose programs on public television or children's videos; both are free from commercials. Consider music videos for younger children, who enjoy singing and dancing.
Limit your child's exposure to all media that have violence, adult language and adult themes, such as sex, alcohol and tobacco or drug use.
Watch programs with your children and discuss them together, talking about issues raised by what they see. Do not forget to look closely at the advertisements, too.
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