Watching What They Watch
In the trailer for Judd Apatow's This is 40, we see the family sitting around a picnic table when the mother turns to her daughter and says, "We've decided to cut back on all the electronics we use." The daughter protests.
Dad: You need to get outside more.
Mom: Build a fort.
Daughter: Do what in the fort?
Mom: You need to develop your imagination.
Like many of us, they're grasping to control one of the most unwieldy aspects of contemporary parenting: American media.
It's both a tool and a tyrant. When my three-year-old sings along to The Sound of Music, I take pleasure knowing she's enjoying a classic film, but when she throws a fit when it's time to turn off a Kipper the Dog cartoon, I'm overwhelmed by her near-addictive behavior.
I worked in the film and TV production industry for a decade, I even studied and taught media literacy, but now as a parent I struggle to manage the media in my home. What's appropriate for my kid to watch? Starting at what age? For how long?
Especially in Christian circles, I hear plenty of pontificating on the evils of American entertainment, but as a parent, what I need most is realistic advice for the world I live in. Most of us are not going to burn our TVs. Most of us need a positive and practical model for how to raise "media wise" kids. That model should address not just the content of what we show our kids, but also the form it comes in and how it's made. That's why media literacy matters.
(I'm focusing here on TV and videos for children between about 3 and 10. The American Academy of Pediatrics doesn't recommend TV viewing for kids under 3 and the 11 to 17-age kids require a different conversation.)
9 Tips for Media-Literate Families
When selecting programming….
1. Disregard labels: Phrases like "educational video" or "kid video" shouldn't be a green light, necessarily. Pediatricians will tell you that children learn best through tactile experience and interpersonal contact. No matter how many PBS logos you see, videos are a passive medium, not an active one, and an entertainment medium, not an educational one. Videos are a supplement to learning, not a substitute.
More importantly, labels pertain to content (violence or other inappropriate content), not form. Keep in mind that form can be violent for a little developing brain, if the video is excessively fast or frenetic.
2. Watch the cut rate: Pay attention to how fast the video moves. The faster the cut rate—more edits or image changes per minute—the more frenetic the video, and the more frenetic the video, the more difficulty your child will have tracking the story. Generally speaking, the younger the child, the slower the cut rate.
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Comments
Daved Kuntz
As a whole, I think this article is good and rings true, but it runs into the danger of encouraging legalism. I was the oldest of six children and we only watched PBS, and only shows that didn't include magic were allowed. At one point, my mother also didn't approve of other shows because they were too "fast paced" - she didn't like Bill Nye the Science Guy not because of its secular evolutionism, but because it went from one thing to another too quickly. To outright ban a child from watching a television show simply because you think it is too complicated is patronizing at best and manipulative at worst.
Jim Ricker
PLease excuse me if I sound haughty but....are people really confused by what kids need when it comes to media? That is difficult to believe to be blunt. This is akin to most parents saying they don't know how to talk to their kids about drugs - it is a lie. Everyone knows it is not healthy to let your kids watch all these things and most being not watched by the parents either before or during.
Nancy Lee
We checked out a DVD from the library of "The Secret Garden" -- it was produced in 1975 by BBC. Boy, is it ever SLOW . . . lots of long, unedited shots, and it's broken into 7 30-min. episodes. It is perfect for my 6-year-old daughter! She can follow the story because we read it together first, and she is having a ball watching the book come to life. This is the perfect example of something age-appropriate (they did change some of the book's dated language about Indian people, thank heaven!). As I read your article, I was thinking "That's why this DVD is so good for her!"
Andrea Dilley
Karen, Thanks for your thoughts on the piece. I appreciate it. From my perspective, these suggestions regarding media management are not meant to be substitutions for healthy, interactive learning, as per my first comment (see #1). Games and legos and those kinds of activities are best for learning. I agree. But a modest dose of visual art--in the form of media--can be acceptable and actually healthy for a child. Moderating the amount (very little), the quality of content, and the quality of form (with a slow cut rate, as per #2) is key. By learning how to appropriately "read" media at a young age--in modest amounts--I hope my child develops an appreciation for visual media art, such as film. Thanks for engaging the article, Karen! All the best to you and your kids. Andrea
Karen Smith
I know it's foreign to the experience of many - but why not give them some decent games to play? Oh, if I had kids I wouldn't give them anything of a maturity level I didn't find acceptable for them - but give them GAMES. Let them expand their mind with imagination in a fantastic world like the ones in Zelda, and let them learn problem-solving while doing it. Give them TOYS - Legos, especially, are good toys for almost all ages (even if they need to be Duplo). Don't sit them in front of a television watching a static video - give them something that lets them make choices, and they will learn much faster and better. Give them dancing games, let them exercise a bit after clearing enough space. Make it INTERACTIVE. Just avoid online games, at least for the young kids.
Rachel Stephan Simko
I agree completely. I've found that "educational" doesn't mean much. I mean, Sesame Street is supposedly educational, right? But how can any kid focus on what's going on? They bounce around SO quickly (talk about frenetic!). I still let my daughter watch Elmo from time to time, but only on rare occasions (to be honest, I have a soft spot in my heart for Jim Henson, which is why I haven't done away with SS for good). One show I've been pleased with is Blue's Clues. Every show has the same format, the same songs, and teaches concrete things. And a big bonus -- it's on Netflix, so no commercials! I think that raising kids with a good relationship to media means YOU have to have a good (read: HEALTHY) relationship to media. We do a lot of reading in our house -- both in front of and with our daughter -- and that's the environment I grew up around. rachel (evenonesparrow.blogspot.com)
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