Nanny gone digital
Published:Monday | December 10, 2012 | 12:00 AM
TV has become the new babysitter
Petrina Francis, Assistant Editor - News
IT'S IN their bedrooms, living rooms, and even the kitchen. Yes, the television is so pervasive, it has seemingly become the new nanny for children.
But while this is good for many parents who are free to carry out their duties without children being a 'bother', at least two counsellors believe that this is a dangerous trend and has warned against such practice.
According to counsellor Yvonnie Bailey-Davidson, television is helping to raise children, although the other traditional methods are still being employed. She cautions against the use of television as one of the primary agents of socialisation.
"Children are exposed to too much sex and violence on the television. Children believe what they see and hear. These children will get more aggressive than usual. They will have difficulty separating reality from make belief," Bailey-Davidson tells POSITIVE Parenting.
Screen what they watch
She notes that parents need to screen the programmes that children watch. "There are educational and stimulating activities on the television. Parents should watch television with their children," she advises.
Bailey-Davidson says children should watch television less than two hours per day, especially the younger ones.
"Children need to be engaged in conversation with others," she said.
A study conducted in the US in 2006 reveals that parents rely on television to babysit their children. According to USATODAY, the study also shows that a third of young children have TVs in their own rooms, and many are put to sleep with the television on.
The report was based on a national telephone survey of 1,051 parents with children ages six months to six years and a series of focus groups discussions across the country. According to USATODAY, the study explored the viewing habits of American families, but did not draw conclusions about the effects of those habits.
Meanwhile, child psychologist and family therapist Dr Orlean Brown-Earle says TV "is not the new nanny ... it is the old nanny".
She notes that it has, for many years, replaced the traditional method of parenting as it helps to keep children in one place where the parents or caregivers can easily find them.
Make time for your children
Dr Brown-Earle says the negative spin-offs include the fact that parents are not usually in the room when the 'TV nanny' is on and are not able to provide guidance regarding possible adult content of the shows or advertisements being watched.
She suggests that parents need to make time for their children. "They need to turn off their TVs and phones and give their children special attention. Either they do that or they will be in the psychologist or lawyer's offices with their children who have, without guidance, gone awry."
Stacey A. Palmer, mother of a eight-year-old daughter agrees that the TV has become the new nanny.
"Although I can't necessarily generalise, many parents, because of the responsibilities they have, do not have a choice but to leave the kids in front of the TV while they get other things done, especially in a single-parenting household."
She adds: "It's a way to keep the kids quiet and out of their hair. There are times that I have had to leave my daughter in front of the TV, which allows me to get things done uninterrupted. Although, now that she is bigger, I can leave her with a book, which works too. But when she was younger, the TV was an effective alternative."
Palmer notes that kiddies programmes are not always age-appropriate. She said even when they claim to be, at times they expose the children to content that would not necessarily be right for a particular age.
Palmer suggests the following alternatives to TV: reading, art and craft, discussions with parents, activities with parents such as cooking, cleaning, games/playing.