When I was little, the television in our home was often on. My parents were very good about ensuring that it was not the focus of my attention for much of the day, and I spent plenty of time playing outdoors, reading, and doing other things that kids do. What I do remember is that the television in the kitchen was generally on at breakfast and at dinner, because my parents like to watch the news.
I don’t really watch the news any more. It’s not that I don’t care about what is going on in the world, because I do. It’s more that watching the news can make me feel sad and hopeless because the focus is often on the bad things that are happening across the globe and around the corner. That and the fact that we don’t have television service at my house.
If we were to have television service here and I did want to watch the news, I would watch it after the boys were asleep. This is just my personal opinion, and it is what works for my family. If Dylan were to see the news, he would probably ask me to change the channel or turn it off because he does not like to watch things that are upsetting. I have learned by watching movies with him that even the most innocent of movies or programs can have a scene or two in them that strikes a nerve with some children.
The topic of television viewing for toddlers can get a bit murky, and each family makes television viewing choices for their toddler based upon their own set of family values. There are two things that concern me about toddlers watching the news. One is that there has been some research which has shown a correlation between the amount of violence that kids see on television and the amount of violent behavior in those children, especially boys. The other is that kids think a lot about the things that they see. Many scenes from the average daily newscast could leave your toddler feeling frightened or worried long after the television gets turned off.
Photo by xpistw on morguefile.com.