WASHINGTON – A new study has found that despite increasing debate over the potentially harmful effects of television on young children, many parents believe that the benefits of a little tube time – whether for their children's development or their own sanity – outweigh the risk of raising a generation of crib potatoes.
The Kaiser Family Foundation study found that on a typical day 61 percent of babies 1 year or younger watch TV or videos, with average viewing of more than an hour. A third of children younger than 6 have a TV in their bedroom. And more than half of parents surveyed said their main reason for putting a TV in their child's room was so that they or other family members could watch their own shows.
“There has been this sense that it is kids clamoring for media and parents trying to hold back the tidal wave,” said Vicky Rideout, vice president of the Kaiser Foundation. “But what came out is that parents themselves are very enthusiastic about using media in their children's lives. Many feel like they can't make it through the day without the assistance it gives.”
For most families surveyed, television is not a replacement for other activities, the study found. On a normal day, 83 percent of children read or are read to, the same percentage as those who watch TV or videos. But the increasing availability of programs aimed at young children – like BabyFirst TV, a new satellite and cable channel aimed at the 3-and-younger set – is raising parents' comfort level with electronic media and assuaging guilt over using television as a baby sitter.
Kimberly Velasco, 25, mother of three girls, 4, 3 and 18 months, and a participant in the study, has the television in her daughters' shared bedroom programmed to receive only the children's channels from her satellite television service.
Velasco, a dental surgical assistant who lives in Montgomery Village, Md., said she does not let the children watch more than an hour a day. But being able to confine them safely in front of the TV when she gets in from work and is rushing to cook dinner is a huge help.
Daniel Anderson, a professor of psychology at University of Massachusetts at Amherst, said savvy pitches for products like BabyFirst TV and the Baby Einstein line of educational videos and DVDs have convinced parents that fixation on television is educational for young children, even though little research has been devoted to television's effect on infants and toddlers.
“The notion of sustained attention for many parents is a point of pride,” Anderson said. “Parents absolutely believe the marketing lines for these products, when the fact is that there is no real evidence yet of learning benefits.”
The study was based on a telephone survey of parents with children 6 months to 6 years old and eight focus groups of mothers in Irvine; Columbus, Ohio; Denver; and Washington, D.C.
