Is TV raising our children?

Like many others, technology and media are very integral to my life, creative & entertainment outlets and career. As a family, we have our favorite television shows, and our kids regularly play video games. I use the Internet for inspiration and sharing of just about every creative project I pursue. And in my career, I’m a web designer and not only work within the technology industry, I enjoy the benefits of a virtual presence by working out of my home, hundreds of miles from my clients.

We are wired (or wireless) no matter where we go with our Smartphones and GPS to reference any piece of data we need, or connect with friends, family and loved ones no matter where we go.

And none of this is unusual… most of us are completely dependent upon and wired into technology for our day-to-day activities.

But we each must choose where we draw the line.

When it comes to work, when do we turn it off?
When it comes to inspiration or research, when do we let the simple outweigh precision in our search for information?
And when it comes to entertainment, how much do we allow digital media to outweigh good old-fashioned play and social interaction? Especially with our kids?

This last topic is the one I want to focus on, because I was floored today when I read my monthly newsletter from babycenter.com that said the average child watches television for four hours a day.

Four hours of television per day??

I thought there might be some exaggeration going on here, so I checked around some more. Here’s what a few notable sources said:

In 2009, the Nielsen Co. reported that children’s television viewing had reached an eight-year high. Children ages 2 to 5 watched TV for more than 32 hours a week. Kids ages 6 to 8 spent 28 hours per week in front of the tube.
The Kaiser Family Foundation also conducted research on the media habits of children reporting that on average, kids age 8 to 18 spend 4½ hours each day watching TV in various forms, including on their mobile phones and the Internet.
This study by the Kaiser Family Foundation also said that two-thirds of families have TV on during meals, and almost half of families have the TV on “most of the time.”
The site, Statistic Brain, says the average child watches TV 24.6 hours/week (just over 3.5 hours per day)

The overwhelming conclusion, according to research done from many sources, is that indeed American kids are on average watching TV or other media between 3.5-4.5 hours a day.

Here I thought my kids were spending too much time on digital media (and I still do), when they have screen time on any one given day over 1.5 hours – which is rare and what I consider excessive.

What is too much? If you go by the American Academy of Pediatrics, they recommend no more than two hours per day for kids over age 2 (and none before age 2).

What does this say about our kids and our parenting? I did some quick addition to see just what this means about how much free time kids have left to grow their minds, outside of school, and it’s absolutely devastating to realize… For a child who sleeps 11 hours per night, spends 7 hours to/from/at school, and 1 hours doing self-care (eating/bathing/getting dressed, etc.), there are only 5 hours left in a day. You do the math — many kids are basically spending almost all their free time in front of the TV.

Where do you draw the line when it comes to balancing technology, media and life?

I want my children to have time to live life fully. These few hours a day that they aren’t already busy with school, taking care of themselves, or sleeping, are the moments that I want them to cherish most. These are the precious hours because it is the time for them to learn all the things I hope they learn before they grow their wings and leave the nest. I want them to learn to be kind, compassionate, creative, resourceful, tenacious, caring , patient, a responsible citizen, a good friend, confident and loving. I want them to have an opportunity to learn some skills outside of what’s taught in school – sports, musical instruments, or dance possibly. I want them to create lasting memories and learn lifelong lessons. I want them to learn the value of social relationships, and the joy in interaction with friends, family and community.

I am not saying TV is all bad… my first born learned almost all his letters from some good educational program before he even turned 2. My daughters sing about the importance of friendship after watching My Little Pony. My son now can tell me all about the way stars are formed from some good science programming. But there are things that can’t be learned from TV, and the important thing here is balance.

I want my kids to be able to go out and live, interact, contribute and thrive…. and the passive nature of television doesn’t gel with my vision of how to become a loving, capable, interactive individual in society.

And I don’t just want this for my children, I want this for America’s children. How our kids grow up will indefinitely shape the future of our nation, and the community that our children belong to when they are adults.

I hope that parents can really think about what they want their children to model, emulate, and grow up to be, and how that precious time between school and sleep is the time our kids are formulating who they are and who they will become. I have heard parents say that we really only have until about age 14 to impart most of our wisdom upon them. After that, they are really making their own choices. Our time as parents is short, let’s make the most of it!

Additional articles to share:

A few questions for you:

How much TV is watched in your household? How much do you think is too much? And if you are as concerned as I am, what can we do about it?