TV Reduces Adult-Child Conversations

They needed a study for this??

I had a couple whom I was Life Coaching a few years ago and suggested to them that they turn off the TV for a few months and see what changed in their life.  I say I suggested, they went into shock and I insisted.  They noticed the first week that they were talking more, felt closer and, best of all, their teenager was talking to them more and was less resentful.  They went from two movies each evening, then the husband went to bed and the wife stayed up watching TV late. 

I call it living alone together, what most people do, sadly, nowadays. 

Anyway, here’s the article that ran in the NY Times today;

By ERIC NAGOURNEY

Conversations between children and their caregivers decrease measurably when a television is on nearby, even if no one seems to be watching it, a new study says.

Researchers came to the conclusion after equipping children with small tape recorders that kept track of everything they said and heard during day-to-day life.

The study, which was led by Dr. Dimitri A. Christakis of the University of Washington medical school and the Seattle Children’s Research Institute, may help explain why early exposure to television has been associated with language and cognitive delays, the researchers said. The study appears in The Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

For the study, more than 300 children, ages 2 months to 48 months, wore the recorders for an entire day once a month for up to two years. A software program then reviewed the recording.

For each hour a television was on, the researchers found, the children on average heard 770 fewer words from an adult — a 7 percent decrease. They also spoke less themselves.

“Some of these reductions are likely due to children being left in front of the television screen,” the study said, “but others likely reflect situations in which adults, though present, are distracted by the screen and not interacting with their infant in a discernible manner.”

The amount of hours of television viewed per day directly correlates with scores children and students received. By the way, the correlation is definitely not positive. Students who watched more television on weekdays typically performed poorer on tests and daily work assignments. Most of the poor performance can be attributed to an inadequate amount of time spent on preparation and studying. (This is according to a recent news article posted on CNN, October 6.)

However, that may not be the only factor. By watching large amounts of television, students may be swayed into valuing television more than they value schoolwork, if they don’t already. The CNN article went on to mention the fact that television on the weekends did not produce quite as negative of effects as on school nights. However, performance did seem to depend on the amount of time spent viewing television overall.

Also, television also has several other negative effects. Depending on the content of the television show, which of course is generally damaging these days, the child may pick up immoral values and words that the parents or guardians certainly don’t want their child using. Children are often exposed to content that is much too mature for their eyes, and they receive a misrepresentation of reality. They will most likely begin to believe that what they see on TV is not only real, but that it is completely acceptable from all standpoints.

What kind of content is unacceptable for children? Fortunately, not every television program will impact children negatively. However, the majority of it will.