My kids watch TV. Before age 2, they knew it was on, but it didn’t stop their playing. They’d look up at the TV occasionally (always a child’s show, if they were around) and then move on to their playing. Sometimes, they’d sit and watch a favourite show, but more often than not, they’re multitasking.

Now with all the talk about the horrors of TV, why doesn’t anyone take a shot at the mindless video games kids play? Nintendo, DS, Wii, even Webkinz – all these are just games with very little, if any educational value at all.

My kids have Leapsters (by Leap Frog). They’re games too, but to advance, you actually have to answer an educational question, like what’s 6+2 or pick the verb out of the list. My kids have learned their alphabet, the sounds and the basics of reading from Leap Frog products – the videos (awesome!) and the toys. Do I have illusions that TV will make my kids smarter… no, but I do think the right TV will assist in their learning. It can be another tool, if used correctly and not mindlessly.

As I am a voracious reader, I have every intention of reading to my kids. I even like children’s books. However, I’m not gonna worry about a little Sesame Street. I think TV is bad when it’s the only interaction your kids get.

I am with gpgirl on this one. I never had the illusion that TV could make my kid smarter, but I also had a hard time seeing how mere exposure to TV, provided that is little to moderate in quantity, could interfere with a child’s congitive development. I believe that the correlations other studies found between TV watching and childhood problems relate to EXCESSIVE TV watching and reflect the activities that such children are not doing due to watching so much TV (i.e., not interacting with their parents, not exploring the outdoors, not reading books or playing with their toys).

My daughter watches about 30 minutes of TV or youtube videos per day, which means she has plenty of time to go outside, interact with parents, draw, play with other toys, etc. But even though her TV watching was never excessive, I always felt guilty about any time she spent in front of the tube, since it contradicted that APA’s no TV under age two rule. Now I feel a little better.

I hate to say it, but I think tv is still bad. I think it is bad for social development and the ability to pay attention. The images on the screen change to often to encourage attentiveness and the mind gets overstimulated and expects the same level of stimulation. Tv is not as interactive as real social contact.

This is a null result–it doesn’t mean that we won’t find negative effects of tv watching. In fact, as one of the posters noted, Zimmerman and colleagues found that watching Baby Einstein was associated with lower expressive vocabulary at certain ages. The field of developmental psychology has just begun to research effects of television on cognitive AND social development, and we have a long way yet to go.

I heard a rumor that Einstein didn’t even watch TV when he was a kid.