WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!!! ITV, babies need parents not TV

How irresponsible of ITV Signed Stories to show a photograph of a 2 year month old baby with an ipad in his cot! (picture removed as they have now taken it down)

I was delighted when they began to do signed stories. Using sign with little ones can be useful for many reasons as we know but we also know (as Shelley Ensor of Little Signers Club points out):

1. Screen time for under 3's is not a great idea.
2. The wifi near this baby's head is dangerous.
3. Babies can't learn to communicate from TV, they need the stimulation of their parents speech and to be held too for bonding and attachment.
4. This is over-stimulation for a baby who will kick back with crying fits and not be able to settle. It provides a low-level stress which also can affect the baby's learning 

  

It shows a complete lack of understanding to promote their 'business' with such  a picture. Parents will see and think it's OK. Let me spell it out IT'S NOT!!!!

For the benefit if the misguided twit who put on the photograph, (that's the politest term I can think of):

• Babies need the stimulation of human beings to develop language and communication.
• These skills develop right from birth – attachment is vitally important for this area and early interaction skills are the foundation for future development (Routledge et al) 
• These skills only develop through interacting with other people – one person responding to another.
• The attachment to the significant carer that occurs around birth is the basis for communication development.
• The amount and type of language used at home have an effect on children’s overall language development (Hart and Risley).
• Good early communication sets the pattern for later childhood and adolescence.

Ban under-threes from watching television, says study

We're often hearing about the dangers of too much TV but now Dr Arik Sigman reveals the results of new research today. He says that parents should curb the amount of time children spend watching television to prevent long-term harm.

 Doctors and government health officials should set limits, as they do for alcohol, on the amount of time children spend watching screens – and under-threes should be kept away from the television altogether.

A review of the evidence in the Archives Of Disease in Childhood says children's obsession with TV, computers and screen games is causing developmental damage as well as long-term physical harm. Doctors at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, which co-owns the journal with the British Medical Journal group, say they are concerned. Guidelines in the US, Canada and Australia already urge limits on children's screen time, but there are none yet in Britain.

The review was written by psychologist Dr Aric Sigman, author of a book on the subject, following a speech he gave to the RCPCH's annual conference. On average, he says, a British teenager spends six hours a day looking at screens at home – not including any time at school. In North America, it is nearer eight hours. But, says Sigman, negative effects on health kick in after about two hours of sitting still, with increased long-term risks of obesity and heart problems. Read more http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/oct/09/ban-under-threes-watching-television

What do you think? We'd love to hear your views.

Is Sponge Bob Square Pants bad for my child?

The Daily Mail reported on an interesting story last week about a link between cartoons and impaired short term memory. In case you missed it:

Watching fast-paced cartoons harms toddlers’ ability to concentrate and solve logic-based puzzles, as well as undermining their short-term memory, according to research. 

Four-year-olds shown clips of animations with rapid scene changes, such as the popular SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon, performed significantly worse in problem-solving and attention tests than those shown slower sequences.

Psychologists who led the research believe that watching animations with constant changes of setting can over-tax young children’s brains, especially the part that controls ‘executive function’ – including goal-directed behaviour, working memory and delay of gratification.

Dr Angeline Lillard, of the University of Virginia in the U.S., said that while her experiments only showed children performed worse immediately after viewing the cartoons, the findings backed up other studies that found longer-term effects.

‘Our results are consistent with other research showing long-term negative associations between entertainment television and attention,’ explained Dr Lillard, whose study is published last week in the journal Pediatrics.

Previous studies suggest many children of pre-school age watch more than 90 minutes of television per day. A growing body of psychological research has linked healthy executive function to sociability and academic success.

‘Connecting fast-paced television viewing to deficits in executive function, regardless of whether they are transient, has profound implications for children’s cognitive and social development,’ said Dr Dimitri Christakis, of the Seattle Children’s Research Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, US. 

‘Put simply, television is both good and bad. The quantity of media, such as television, has been an unduly emphasised part of the story. It is not that quantity is unimportant, but the effects of media are more down to what is watched than how much is watched.’

Read more:  


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2036270/Does-Spongebob-SquarePants-wreck-childrens-ability-concentrate.html

Related articles

• Go ahead, SpongeBob, rot my kids' brains (salon.com)
• Is 'SpongeBob' Too Much for Young Minds? (nlm.nih.gov)
• Is SpongeBob SquarePants Bad for Children? (well.blogs.nytimes.com)

How much TV should my pre-schooler watch?

The Hello campaign to mark 2011 national year of communication aims to help educate parents to optimise their children's speech, language and communication skills. They aim to dispel some of the myths and clarify what we should be doing. TV is a topic that's often discussed but how much should they watch, what should we be letting them watch and how should they be watching? These are all questions to which parents need the answers.


To help parents plan their involvement the Hello Campaign advises:
1. If you let your child watch TV, watch it with them (as much as possible). It would be unrealistic to say always as there will be times when you can't.
2. It is really important to always remember that children need quiet time where you turn off background noise and have time just to play. This is really important for listening and language development.
3. When you do watch programmes make sure they are at the right level for your child – not too  complicated or aimed at older children. There's no point them watching adult programmes such as soaps or day-time TV. (CBeebies for example is good for 2-4 year olds)
4. Have fun and encourage your child to really engage with the programme.  Join in with your child if there are familiar songs or rhymes– each episode of Raa Raa The Noisy Lion includes the 4 R’s (Rhyme, Rhythm, Repetition and Retelling), which provides a good opportunity for you to participate with your child.
5. Make TV time ‘communication’ time. Briefly comment on what is happening in a programme to spark off a conversation or highlight something that is happening i.e. ‘Look at Raa Raa – he’s hiding’.
6. Be sure to answer any questions children may ask – they might have lots! And talk about the programme afterwards – which bit they liked best and why. Tell them what you think.
7. Pretend games are fantastic for children’s language and communication development. Why not make believe you are in a Jungle - make a den with an old blanket across a couple of chairs, use soft toys as the animals. You could even act out one of the adventures from shows like Raa Raa The Noisy Lion that you have just watched with your child adding in their imagination to create a whole new story.
8. Remember not to put pressure on your children and give them the opportunity to communicate with you. Get down to their level and give them time to listen as well as talk.
9. The most important thing for children is adults who listen and talk with them, alongside stimulating experiences and materials that give them opportunities to interact and play. Too much TV can get in the way of this, so it is important to try and get the right balance.
10. If you at all concerned about your child’s communication development, log onto www.talkingpoint.org.uk or www.private-speech-therapy.co.uk

Remember there so many more important things you can do with your child: play, sings songs and rhymes, read together, rough and tumble, run around in the garden, go for a walk, visit the park.... the list is endless. When you look back at your own childhood these are the things you remember, not sitting alone watching TV I bet! Give your child their own happy memories of time with you! No one on their death bed says 'I wish I had let my child watch more TV' but countless might regret not spending quality time with their them. They grow up so fast and you only get one chance!

Related articles

• Appropriate TV Viewing for Young Children (telewatcher.com)
• Parents 'using TV as babysitter' (bbc.co.uk)
• Noisy homes hinder 'language' development: Ofsted report (arabizi.wordpress.com)

25% of parents admit to using TV as a babysitter... I'd say that's a gross under-admission, what do you think??

The most recent Hello press release looks at TV watching survey with interesting results. The poll was carried out to mark the launch of a new programme which started yesterday for children of pre-school age – Raa Raa the Noisy Lion  – and a new ten point plan for parents on TV Time, devised by experts to mark the Hello campaign, 2011 national year of communication. We'll look at the 10 point plan in another blog post. As with any survey, people will give the answer they think they should give or the one they think you want, rather than whole-hearted truthfulness and I believe that there is an element of this which sways the results. 1000 parents of 2 - 6 year olds were approached:


Almost all of the parents (93%) let their young children watch television and contrary to popular belief, seven out of ten parents do not feel guilty about allowing their children to watch TV. Of those parents, 42% think TV is a great way for kids to learn but only 16% always watch with their kids for ‘bonding time’, with 25% using TV as a ‘babysitter’. 


I would say that the TV is used as a babysitter by a huge number as we've ALL done that at some point or other including me! As for it being educational.... it depends on the programme. It needs to be age-appropriate and meaningful and should be shared with an adult. The 54% who allow their children to watch ‘adult’ programmes, (with  Eastenders,  The X Factor and  Coronation Street  being voted the most common) surely can't believe that they are teaching the child anything?? Plus, nearly  78% of  parents’ claim the two hours their children spend watching TV each day is done alone.... 2 hours??? Most pre-schoolers I know watch far more than that!! 66% of parents don’t know the characters or storylines from the shows their kids are watching and when parents do co-view approximately  20% sit in silence with their children. Very few (15%) are using TV  programmes as a ‘conversation starter’ when the TV is turned off.


It hi-lights that parents need more information and advice on suitable TV programmes  and how to co-view with their child.  


Smart Talkers Pre-school Communication groups and Small Talk Speech & Language Therapy are supporting The Hello campaign, which aims to make children and young people’s communication development a national priority. We would recommend Raa Raa the Noisy Lion, as a quality television programme for 2-4 year olds. The new series explores children’s communication skills through the use of  Raa Raa’s 4 Rs – repetition, rhyme, rhythm and retelling.  

For more information go to www.raaraathenoisylion.com and to find out about the Hello campaign visit www.hello.org.uk.   

Ban TV to protect children's health, top psychologist tells EU politicians

Taken from The Daily Mail 31/8/10

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
TV should be banned for toddlers and severely rationed for other youngsters to protect their health and family life, a leading psychologist will tell MEPs today. 

Dr Aric Sigman claims that millions of children spending hours slumped in front of TVs and computers is 'the greatest unacknowledged health scandal of our time'. 

He says it is linked to ills ranging from obesity and heart disease to poor grades and lack of empathy. 

Ban: Toddlers should not be allowed to watch TV, according to expert Aric Sigman, and viewing should be limited for older children as well to protect their health

Some British children spend as much as seven-and-a-half hours a day in front of a screen  -  the equivalent of a full year of 24-hour days by the age of seven. 

Dr Sigman, an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, believes that the youngest children, whose brains are undergoing massive development, should not watch any TV at all. 

From the ages of three to 12, boys and girls should be limited to an hour a day, rising to an hour and a half for teenagers. 

Expert: Dr Aric Sigman believes too much TV results in health problems such as heart disease and mental issues such as a lack of empathy

The psychologist will tell an EU parliamentary working group on the 'quality of childhood' that TVs and computers should be kept out of bedrooms until a child is 15.

'Governments throughout Europe regularly advise their citizens on the most intimate health matters: from daily grams of salt intake and units of alcohol to number of sexual partners,' he will say.

'Yet when it comes to children's main waking activity, politicians are mysteriously lost for words. 

'Irrespective of what our children are watching or doing on the screen, a clear relationship is emerging between daily hours of screen time and negative medical, psychological, behavioural and educational consequences. 

'The more hours per day, the more likely the risk of these negative consequences and the greater their intensity. 

'Most of the damage linked to screen viewing seems to occur beyond exposure of one-and-a-half hours per day, irrespective of the quality of the content. Yet the average child is exposed to three to five times this amount.' 

Dr Sigman's work and studies by other researchers around the world link TV and computer time with problems including obesity, high cholesterol and blood pressure, inattentiveness, declines in maths and reading, sleep disorders and autism. 

A recent US study found that many youngsters are so engrossed in surfing the internet, playing computer games and watching TV, that they don't even notice when their father comes home from work. 

France banned TV programmes aimed at under-threes two years ago.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1307550/Ban-TV-protect-childs-health-psychologist-urges-European-politicians.html#ixzz0yCzayhNH

 

The TV and talking: you can't do both!

I've just listened to the new Gary Barlow/Robbie Williams single where they sing about poor communication skills and attempting to discuss important issues in front of the TV and it occurred to me that it reflects the whole issue of the decline in human communication ability. The song is pure fiction but it's true, how many of us have attempted to bring up an important subject when the other partner is watching the television? They could not fully attend to what you're saying and would only be half listening. It sounds ridiculous and I'm sure many of you would say you wouldn't dream of doing it. Perhaps the TV is to blame for much of the decline in adult communication and even some relationships...I don't know, that's not my area of concern. 


What I do know however, is that we do do this with our own children  on an everyday basis. This is bad for many reasons and I feel needs much more research. In Australia, they have already looked at the issue and decided that TV should be banned for under 2s while watching for under 5s should be kept to an absolute minimum. They recommend no more than 1hour.  


The Australian Government support the guidelines drawn up by the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne (which was actually part of a national anti-obesity drive rather than to develop communication skills).  The report advised parents and professionals to make a plan for reducing screen time.  “Screen time . . . may reduce the amount of time they have for active play, social contact with others and chances for language development. [It may] affect the development of a full range of eye movement [and] reduce the length of time they can stay focused.”

They found that that very young children in Australia spend more time watching television than in any other activity. Four-month-old children watch an average of 44 minutes of television daily, while children under 4 years with pay TV at home spend at least three hours a day in front of the screen.Nearly a third of children in Australia live in households that have a television switched on all the time and it was seen to be used as a “babysitter” from earliest infancy. “Face-to-face interactions and responsive, engaged relationships provide the foundation for all child development,” they report, ' so language and communication development is bound to be adversly affected'. 

I'm sure the viewing figures here would easily mirror the Australian ones so what are we doing about it? Let's have  more research about viewing habits and  some good quality guidelines to help families be aware of the problems they are creating and how they could help. Attention, listening, vocabulary and social interaction increase without the TV....in adults as well as children!