Lately David's "obsession" with TV has worried me. He did not watch any TV or movies until he was around 2 and a half. At first it was just every couple days and gradually it came to be an expected part of his day.
You may wonder,"how is this a Green issue?"
I am very conscious of the fact that I do not want to raise "little consumers". I think that a habit of TV watching directly feeds into this. Even though at present, we only let them watch videos and pre-recorded shows without commercials, there are teasers for other shows/videos. I found myself even falling for it, "oh, that looks like a cute show..."
I AM NOT 100% against TV. I just think it is a very powerful force, and I want to be very careful with it from the beginning.
After reading This post on No Impact Man's Blog last night, here's what I did today...
This morning I sat David down and told him that Daddy and I were concerned that we were watching too much TV and that there are a lot of other fun things to do. I got him to agree that TV can be fun, but that there are A LOT of other fun things to do too. We made a list of fun-things-for-David-to- do.
Today he only asked to watch TV about 15 times (ha, ha!) and it was pretty easy to convince him to do something on his list. So I didn't get an extra 20 minutes while they spaced out watching something- so what?! I enjoyed the time I spent with them discovering new activities so much more.
My goal is for TV to be like just another toy. Not every toy is played with everyday. Every few days a toy gets rediscovered, and then the child moves onto something else. I'm ok with that. What I'm not ok with is it being a set part of everyday.
If anyone has suggestions for reading material on the subject of kids/consumerism/media, I'd welcome it. This is a subject that is important to me and I want to learn more.
6 comments:
Victoria doesn't have the obsession with TV right now. We do watch Sesame Street and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She actually learned how to "tip-toe" from watching Mickey do that. And she's picking up on her ABC's and 123's from SS. Add into that the things I teach her with out TV. She also loves watching the Food Network, but that's because we watch it. Guess that is teaching her healthy eating habits... She doesn't have the attention span for a movie right now. She still wants to play with her toys, read books, and get into all the other things she's not supposed to. :)
I missed that post on No Impact man, it was so sweet! I have to say that sometimes I wish Jonny liked TV a little more :) It wasn't always this way, we went TV overboard(OK WAY overboard) at the end of my pregnancy and since then its like hes bored. Ill turn on a show when I need to shower or something but RARELY does it hold his interest for longer than 10 minutes. (Hence my many baseball hat to cover greasy hair days).
Children and consumerism has always been a concern of mine too. Jonny didn't watch TV until around 13 or 14 months and ever since has never watched a show with commercials. We also never have any of our shows on while hes awake, even if its my beloved and benign Oprah. It actually infuriates me that "Chuck E Cheeses" is a sponsor of PBS Kids and therefore has there little "Get Active" endorsements on there!(or whatever there line is).
I think all of this has helped to curb any early consumerism that I see in some of the neighborhood kids. They talk about all this stuff that they "need"and they are like 5 and 6! Jonny is still pretty oblivious which I like. It has also helped me avoid any sort of toy "weapons" in the house. He still hasn't owned and toy guns(even water guns), swords, knives or whatever else they try and market to little boys.
Ok wow, this is way longer than I intended it to be.
I noticed that too...The PBS Kids. When I put SS on with the OnDemand, Chuck comes on and does it's little blurb and than SS starts. There's another one for Mickey, I should pay attention to it the next time I start one up from the OnDemand system.
Avery was older before any TV or video. (about 2) I also use TV for showers and getting dishes done (no washer in this house!) When he's not feeling well, he seems to be able to spud out in front all day. (though I don't let him!) But lately, he will turn it off himself before the show or movie is over. He is really into his toys now and much prefers playing to anything else - eating and sleeping included. And again, unless he's not feeling well or overly tired (yet refusing to go to sleep!) he will usually play while it's on and only half watch.
I find that his behavior for the day is easier to deal with (ie good boy!) when he hasn't had a lot of TV. At first I thought TV was making him "hyper", but I realized that the extra energy he was displaying was from inactivity of just sitting. And I also find that when he tunes out, I tend to get in a tune-out mode. I enjoy playing with him, and much enjoy the days that he is not into watching anything.
But, since he has not really been napping consistently of late, I have had to become more creative in how he is entertained so I can get things done. (he's also a very attention demanding child)
I agree on the risk for consumerist kids. But I think it's mostly how the parent handles the exposure when it's happening. (not highlighting it's a cool toy or whatever) And I think it's the child's personality. He has seen commercials and is really not interested in them. Where I have the problem with him wanting (ne'e needing) things is going to stores (like Target) that have toy sections. We tend to go to the RP one since it's closer for us. The toy section is kind of in the middle, so it's hard not to pass by. Seeing and feeling the toys is when he wants them. And being the car fanatic he is - it's torture (for us both!) because of all these "try me" toys. Yes, I could just not let him get near it, but he knows it's there, and will pitch a complete fit over it all. And I have just not gotten to the point where I am willing to always drop everything and leave. And even grocery shopping... he sees the cereal boxes with characters and colorful cereal and just has to have them. I did cave one time because it had already been a looooooong day. He tried it once, and has never wanted it again. So it's marketing doing what it was meant to do and succeeding!
Here's a story from today on those lines. We went to see the Cotton Candy Express at the library today (music duo). They were selling their CDs. He locked in on the one with cartoon characters (none of which he is familiar with) and burst into tears when it was suggested that a different CD was purchased. I asked him if the reason he wanted that one was because of the packaging, and he said yes... and was still unrelenting on choosing the other one. So, there again, didn't matter what it was on the inside, he wanted it for what it seemed to be. The lady from the group admitted to using them as a draw for kids. But also tried to convince us the other CD was better... go figure!
Because he has this tendancy to lock into a toy he sees at the store that he just has to have, we have started to have him make a list of toys he wants, that he may or may not get at the next gift giving occasion. This has helped take the immediacy out of it, and has helped me to learn the toys he really does want so I don't waste money on the ones I think he does. I have found that many of the fits over a toy were due to tiredness and not a true want.
And, that behavior has helped me to not really shop often, and to really think of what I only need so I can get in and out without a trip past the toys.
And every trip starts with "I am not buying any toys" :-)
Okay, ramble almost over here... one thing I have found to help with keeping his interest so I can do something is to cycle out his toys. We keep them up for a month or more... he thinks they are new ones when we get them down!
I feel like I would like to clarify. Obsession may have been too strong a word. He watched at most 2 shows a day. I just didn't like that it was becoming an expected part of the day. In the past couple days we have gone about changing our routine so that TV is not expected. More of a break in the routine. The TV has not been turned on the past 3 days. I think this little re-set was just what we needed.
Nathan did not grow up on tv, but had a vast array of videos. Let me tell you how cute it is that his answer to what he wanted for christmas for years, were random things like "a teddy bear" or "a turban" (lol). Commercials are evil. With Disney videos especially, I hate that they do this animated graphic to say it's a "DISNEY DVD", like it's somehow different/better than any other DVD. Now Nathan watches things like
Good Eats and Myth Busters. EVERY commercial that comes on? he says "don't believe it". I'm trying...
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