Personal Essay: Children’s Television Workaround
Our kid’s TV-free, as long as online video doesn’t count.
by Dan Oko
May 14, 2009
I beg to differ. We represent a new generation of parents who are capable of making informed choices about what, where and when their young children watch "televised" entertainment — YouTube, TiVo, iPhone apps and the like give us unprecedented control and
choice. Neighborhood friends who have a Kill-Your-Television bumper-sticker on their car recently purchased a DVD player for their kids to watch videos during long road trips and cross-country flights. My sister-in-law confesses that she entertains my niece
and nephew in the doctor's office with YouTube segments downloaded to her iPhone. As with the TeleTubbies and Mickey Mouse, kids love viral videos; however, most parents never bother to watch children's shows — and that's yet another way YouTube differs.
Still, let's be clear, I'm not talking about using computers as babysitters. I recognize that there's a pitched battle going on for the hearts and minds of America's children; according to a recent study at the University of Washington in Seattle, an astounding
40 percent of all three-month-olds watch TV. That certainly strikes me as too early for YouTube as well, and I believe that it's unconscionable for a child who cannot walk to be left in front of any screen, especially without adult supervision. The UW study
depressingly jumps to 90 percent of children watching TV by the time they reach two years old.
YouTube can help Ursula get a leg up on a whole host of cultural info-tainment.Yet, I'm still pretty sure that a total prohibition on "screen time" is not what's needed.
We all know someone who in the dark days of their youth was forbidden to watch television or movies, and now when popular songs and shows refer back they are left clueless. To my mind, YouTube can help Ursula get a leg up on a whole host of cultural info-tainment
from wildlife videos to cartoon mash-ups, and she can do so without being exposed to television's least desirable aspects — commercials. In addition, until she is old enough to type search terms herself, there's no danger of tripping upon violent or sexual
programming without my immediate knowledge. In order to raise her right, I intend to make sure my daughter has all the help she needs while acquiring her new audio-visual literacy.
As for concerns that I may be softening Ursula up for a future Internet addiction, I'll start worrying if she ceases demanding that we go to the park, another daily occurrence. For now, she has little tolerance for anything more than five minutes long. So long as I'm not racing to meet some fast-approaching deadline, I say: Bring on the nunchees.
About the Author
|
|
Related Articles
|
|
Dan Oko is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. Dan
specializes in travel and recreation, as well as environmental issues,
and his articles have appeared in Men's Journal, Budget Travel and
Outside, as well as on Slate and Salon.com. |
|
|
-
by Kate Haas
Why does not having a television make me so unpopular?
-
by Sam Apple
My son's entire first year is online.
-
by Jeanne Sager
My daughter watches up to six hours of TV a day.
|
