As a former Waldorf school teacher who had a big struggle convincing parents that lotsa hours in front of the television wasn't good for their children, I was pleased to see this article on declining TV use, BUT the reason wasn't as heartening. For the first time, data is being shared that seems to prove that TV viewership has actually peaked in the US among young people as they spend more and more time watching shows and playing games on computers, iPads and mobile phones.
This is big news for parents as it can often be harder to monitor screentime on these assorted devices.
How much TV do we watch?
"Television is America's No. 1 pastime, with an average of four hours and 39 minutes consumed by every person every day."
Whoa, dude! That's a lot of time that could be spent doing something a bit more constructive.
But this is what's happening:
"It has long been predicted that these new media would challenge traditional television viewing, but this is the first significant evidence to emerge in research data. If the trends hold, the long-term implications for the media industry are huge, possibly causing billions of dollars in annual advertising spending to shift away from old-fashioned TV."
This is also big news for the advertising industry as they seek to stay in front of these young viewers and TV serves them less and less well. Their desperation, however, should give parents pause as it signals just how powerful these mediums are on young minds.
>> Youths Are Watching, but Less Often on TV (via NYTimes)
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As a parent to teens, screen time is an issue of huge importance to us. But we've come to believe that not all screen time is created equal. We do keep tabs on how much total time our kids spend on screens, but we're much more interested in what they're doing while in front of them. We came up with some guidelines that are working pretty well for us, that look at quality as much as quantity: http://www.thissortaoldlife.com/2011/10/18/screen-time-manifesto/
Is anyone else sick of the posts about screen time? This is a design blog. If I wanted to read other people's parenting opinions, I would hang out on the mommyblogs.
This is the only post on screentime that I can recall on AT. I just wanted to chime in to say that I appreciate this article on a "design" blog.
@Nellymom: There's a whole section called "Life at Home," so I guess those who run the blog don't see it as only a design blog. Perhaps they see it as a life design blog?
Find it interesting that your username identifies you as someone's mom, but this parenting post is bugging you. Wondering why you didn't just choose not to click on it, as the title pretty clearly indicates the content.
I'm okay with this post on a "design blog"
Keep Calm and Carry On
Maxwell, watching TV for hours on end is not the same as playing ed games or puzzle-solving games on an iPad. Or using game editors to design your own levels. It takes a lot of focus and concentration for a young child to do that.
I'm in front of a screen, and I'm not zoned out or being fed garbage.
I think this is relevant on a design blog. TVs or other screens are still part of how we arrange our homes after all. Okay, I guess I'm stretching it.
But anyway, I'm happy to hear views on screen time. We don't have a TV, but we do have an iMac and the kids love DVDs, YouTube (with supervision) and Netflix. I like that it is a multi-purpose piece, much nicer looking than most TVs and that we share it in a common area and have greater control of viewing time and appropriateness of material.
We call it "TV" but for my kids, viewing time is a rare treat and for short periods of time. When we visit grandparents the TV is on ALL the time and it drives me batty. Conversation is impossible and I feel like I can't even think.
Thank you, above commenter, for pointing out that watching the Flintstones is NOT the same as playing educational games. My daughter has learned SO much being online it amazes me. Such a fun and engaging way to learn. I'm envious I never had the same.
That is a good point about educational games. We find them great too.
I have to agree that not all screen time is boob tube time. We do let our daughter watch silly TV shows. And many of those shows have some real information on them that is packaged so that she will not only get it, but enjoy it. However, even though she gets bored with the history channel, she loves watching science and nature shows. And she prefers to watch videos of surgery techniques on my ipad over watching movies. As a 5 year old, she can point out a heart on an xray... I know adults that cannot do that. The games that she plays usually involve numbers/math or reading. However, she can beat me at cat physics...trigonometry is easier than most basic math.
My daughter sees my husband and me reading constantly. However, when I was young, I saw my parents reading books and newspapers. Now, I get my information from reading articles on the internet or books on my ipad. My daughter sees the computer as a way to learn things. We make times to do things, to make things, to cook things, in our daily life. But my screen time is often no different than my parent's book or newspaper time. Except when I have a question about the sources, I can instantly check those.
i would never try to replace personal experimentation with reading about it on the internet. However, I learned some interesting things to experiment with on the internet. I can only hope to teach my daughter to think and how to find and evaluate information.
don't know if this helps but anyways...
i have a cousin (yes, she's real) and her hubby who buy themselves the latest gadgets, the largest LCD TV, ipads, iphones... while their 5 kids are glued to TV and video games. their house is bursting at the seams with crappy 1980's decor and rejected secondhand furniture and people think this is family time? my heart bleeds thinking about it.
screen time at our home, is always together. once i'm sick of watching TV i send the kids out and give fiance two options - cook dinner or laundry.
What goes on in the rooms AT is saving is important too. I don't see AT as a design blog. I see it as a quality of life and lifestyle blog, too. I have no problem with AT commentary such as this, particularly since they address environments for children and technology in the home. As for computers, I read a great article, recently, regarding tech execs in Silicon Valley who send there children to K-8 Waldorf schools, which, as I'm sure you know Maxwell, do not use computers in their teaching. Interesting read, for sure.
Neurologically, playing games on a screen and passive TV watching aren't terribly far apart, especially for young children, who really need to be manipulating three-dimensional objects to learn important skills.
Take a toddler who is sorting objects. Besides just sorting, they're learning things like how much pressure to use when moving the objects, how many they can put in a container before it spills, what kinds of physical properties different materials have that might make them useful at another point when they need to build or fix something, what kinds of materials break and what kinds don't, how the objects look when arranged various ways, and a number of other things. A child sorting something on an iPad only learns the concepts of same and different. The child who is manually sorting is also learning self-regulation, because there's no app telling them when the game is over or how well they did it. They also have to physically take care of and clean up their materials, rather than just hitting a button when they decide they're done. Oh, and it's more likely that another person will join them in their activity and ask what they're doing or find a way to play together.
Eeka, thank you for your comment. As a Montessori teacher, this article made me antsy. Any screen is a bad idea for children under two, and beyond that, they take attention away from skills that children's amazing, active brains should be working on. Beyond cognitive function, they're missing out on hand-strengthening and coordination skills that prepare them for writing and other fine motor skills (not to mention that kids need to physically play-- http://www.pri.org/stories/science/science-of-play.html).
And then there's the debate that teaching handwriting should be replaced with teaching *keyboarding* to young children, which makes me crazy...
Of course I'm on a computer now, so I'm no teetotaler, but I think there needs to be mindful caution, especially with regard to young children and the barrage of screens in modern life. I think it's an especially challenging time to be a parent!
We are of the mindset that not all screentime is created equal and do not limit it in any way because most of the time it is background noise. My girls enjoy watching everything from Mythbusters to Sesame Street and constantly use what they see as a springboard for art projects, questions, and further investigation. I remember as a child watching the TV series The Little House on the Prairie and then reading the books, asking for clothes from that time period, and going horseback riding to be just like Laura Ingalls. In today's world of technology, where jobs depend on how computer savy a person is, I encourage the girls to use all the "screens" we have from iPads to the computer to navigate their world... and then go out and investigate more!
I have to agree that not all screen time is the same but I also see a need to limit any sort of screen time for my children. I am a big proponent of get out side and explore. The screen time is nice for periods of time and at the right time; but the biggest focus is recognizing the need of the child (and Adult). I am entertained when my 5 year old wants me to turn on a cooking show so they learn how to cook more...I am always surprised by my children and what the are interest in. I try and support the best I can, but there is a point when even if the screen time is good quality; it is time to turn off the the screen. The focus we have concerning screen time is to make sure what they watch is quality and worth the time and to know when to turn it off.