My wife and I recently welcomed the arrival of our first two grandchildren. No, they
weren’t twins. In early 2012, our son and his wife had a little girl. Then, later in the year, our daughter and her husband also had a little girl.
As a parent or grandparent, you are
already aware of the many forces at work, intent on attempting to shape the
thoughts and opinions of the little ones in your family. What you may not know
is that a clock is ticking, as you guide them to independence and maturity.
For decades, psychologists have
reported about the critical stages of development in children. As the research
progressed, it became clear that formation of personality and the foundations
for learning occurred much earlier than had originally been thought.
The debate has raged for decades, as
it relates to how our children develop, and whether heredity or environment has
the greatest impact on the outcome. But stop and think about where your children
and grandchildren are getting the information from which to form their life’s
choices and opinions. Consider the following.
80% of children 6 and under, read or
are read to in an average day.
But…children spend an average of
only 49 minutes with books in that same
average day.
This is compared with 2 hours and 22
minutes or more in front of a television or
computer screen. Smart phones are eating into
the timeline even more.
In addition, a recent survey
found that 90% of parents said their children under age 2 watch at least some
form of electronic media. And the average amount of TV watched by children 2
and under was 1-2 hours a day.
Then the
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) made a “screen-free” recommendation for
all children under age 2. The researchers wanted to study the benefits or harm
in educational TV viewing for the same age group. This is some of what they
found:
Because
educational television programs usually use content and context that doesn’t
make sense yet to children under 2, there is little, if any, educational value.
Unstructured
play proved to be far better than electronic media for encouraging brain
development. Through unstructured play children learn creativity, problem
solving, reasoning, and motor skills. Unstructured play also encouraged
independence by teaching children to entertain themselves.
Little children
learned best when they interacted with people and not a TV screen.
Even when
parents watch TV and videos with their children, to help them understand and
learn, the children do much better from live interaction and instruction.
A television or
radio, in the background, can also do damage to a child’s development by
distracting the parent and decreasing interaction with their children. Hearing
these distracting sounds in the background can also have a negative effect on a
child during his unstructured play time.
Television
viewing around bedtime is especially negative because it causes difficulties in
sleeping and sleep schedules. This affects a child’s mood, behavior, and
learning.
Many children
with increased exposure to media have delayed language development after they
start school.
One of the
primary researchers, Dr. Brown, gave the following recommendation to parents:
"In today's 'achievement culture,' the best thing you can do for your
young child is to give her a chance to have unstructured play -- both with you
and independently. Children need this in order to figure out how the world
works."
Because you’re
concerned about what your children or grandchildren are learning, and their literacy
success, pay attention to the warnings from AAP and consider reducing or
completely eliminating heavy media use for children under 2. Instead, begin
reading together with your child to better develop literacy and to ensure their
success in education and life.
To help in this
battle, an online children’s magazine has been developed where you can find new
short stories to read to your children during the day or at bedtime. Each
month, I also have two, new, original short stories in this magazine. You can
find more information at http://www.knowonder.com
It’s free.
Remember,
parents and grandparents stand on the front lines when it comes to the battle
for our children. Reading habits you instill early will benefit them for a
lifetime.
Max Elliot Anderson
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2 comments:
This is cool!
Thank you Vada
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