Why you should plonk your kids in front of the telly

Our special forces don’t always need special treatment

by Paul Toohey

110
A good holiday is about unrest, not rest

by Angela Mollard

210
Dear Dr Tinman: Why do you want me to go to the airport?

by Dr Tinman

310
We don’t deserve this huge, exciting scientific project

by Claire Connelly

410
Mining money talks the loudest in Australian politics

by Laurie Oakes

510
Please enter your password

by Lucy Kippist

610
This concern for Thomson won’t change the script

by Mark Kenny

710
Weekend Punch: Tea or coffee?

by The Punch Team

810
Eurovision can’t drown out the human rights abuses

by Claire Mallinson

910
Revenge. It doesn’t get a whole lot better than this

by The Punch Team

1010

by Cal Paterson

03 Mar 05:50am

Must Reads

Abbott’s crass logic: trash the Parliament in order save it

180

Our special forces don’t always need special treatment

A good holiday is about unrest, not rest

Filed under: Children, Parenting, Television

20 comments

Among the down-sides of the widely-available LCD or Plasma TV is the redundancy of the term ‘boob-tube’.

Whoever originally coined this expression, with its wonderful breastfeeding double-entendre, must surely have had either Freud or Andy Warhol in mind.

Few parents are immune to the pang of guilt that can be felt when seeing their kids ‘glued to the box’, jaws slack, eyes unblinking, shoulders slumped. All the facial muscles set to passive mode. All the action in the room comes from the flickering lights and jingle-jangle noises in front of the kids.

As a child I was told in ominous tones that I would get square eyes from watching the ‘idiot box’. Some things have changed: Nowadays, in place of Wile-e Coyote and the Road Runner, there are better, more educational shows to watch.

No more slack-jawed zombie kids, now you can learn without leaving the daybed! From Baby Einstein (imagine how much more cleverer little Alfred would have been if he’d listened to Mozart as a newborn!) to ‘Super Why and the Super Readers’, these shows bombard kids with high-intellectual-octane content, whilst dazzling with colours and energy, with an amphetic musical score to match. The other day I caught sight of a show on Pay TV with animals and objects all made out of the letters of their names.

An animated (in every sense) duck asked a clock what the time was. Oddly, the duck’s body was made out of the letters ‘D-U-C-K’, and the tall clock was a vertical tower of the letters ‘c-l-o-c-k’. What must kids be making of this?

Psychologists and Child Development experts have recently emerged from their two-way mirror labs to announce that ‘Baby Einstein’ and other ‘edutainment’ kid’s shows have no educational value, and to set, in foreboding tones, maximum screen times for children of a given age per day. According to some studies, these new TV shows are “linked” to better educational outcomes for kids. According to others, TV is linked to ADHD, obesity, and who knows what else.

One thing I recently learned from TV: in science, when two things are ‘linked’ this does not mean that either one causes the other! As a commentator on Sunday Sunrise told me: ‘to say that TV violence causes violence in kids is like saying that the wind is caused by the trees waving their branches around.”

Dear parent: please do NOT feel guilty about putting your kids in front of the TV. It’s true, there is about as much educational value in kid’s TV as there is in a bowl of alphabet noodles. That’s not really the purpose of TV; it’s really a community service for parents who need to tidy the house, change little one’s nappy, have a little sleep, take a phone call from an old friend… basically, it’s a free on-call babysitting service in the comfort of your own home.

By all means, make sure that what they are watching is non-violent, but don’t put too much stock in them watching a caped crusader who recites ‘twinkle-twinkle’ in Hebrew.

You need to be able to have time for yourself, from time to time. So play with your kids; take them to meet and play with other kids. Talk to them, and listen to them. And when you have something to do at home, that your kids can’t help you with: give them some time on the boob tube.

They won’t get square eyes any more than they will get PhDs.

Share post:
Print page:
- Print Article

Most commented

431Australia, you have nothing to fear but fear itself

390There's no one Thomson won't burn to save his skin

336Animal experiments won't cure me from cancer

313Thomson didn't answer the question everyone is asking

266Who murdered the Arts degree?

231South Australia. It's the middle bottom bit.

231Craig Thomson speaks. Meanwhile, in Australia...

223The world puzzles over Australia's Prime Minister

20 comments

Show oldest | newest first

- Jools says:
  
  03:29pm | 20/03/10
  
  I think there is a vast difference between the children’s television of 20+ years ago (Humphrey B-Bear, Playschool with Benita, Noni and John, Mr Squiggle, Romper Room, Fatcat and Friends, Shirl’s Neighbourhood, Wombat ... I could go on!) and today. I am glad we still have Playschool and I loved watching my son’s enjoyment 11 years ago when he discovered Bananas in Pajamas, Wiggles, Hooley-Dooleys. It just isn’t the same!
  
  Reply
- Cal Paterson says:
  
  08:37pm | 03/03/10
  
  @E: good pickup - I must have been thinking about Alfred E. Newman.
  Meanwhile… it’s all well and good to say that TV, DVDs, etc. is good or bad for kids… what about the parents who get a well-earned break?
  
  Reply
- Douggie says:
  
  05:51pm | 03/03/10
  
  After about 20 years of nothing, Playschool songs just started popping into my head,.. “Gaaaloomp went the litttle green frog one day,.. gaaaloomp went the little green frog,....”
  
  ahhh… It really sickens me that a quality show like Sesame Street has become a no substance Elmo-fest,.. they used to have great stuff on there. I still remember those songs too.
  
  80s TV - The golden years,.. we only had 2 stations where I grew up and between them there was more entertainment than what we have on all the free to air channels we have now combined.
  
  Reply
- E says:
  
  04:52pm | 03/03/10
  
  @Zeta : Scary, we are the same cartoon generation Thundercats was awesome!
  
  Oh and too the writer of this apologist nonsense for the commercial stations:
  
  1) Alfred who? I think you mean Albert perhaps?
  
  2)
  “One thing I recently learned from TV: in science, when two things are ‘linked’ this does not mean that either one causes the other! As a commentator on Sunday Sunrise told me: ‘to say that TV violence causes violence in kids is like saying that the wind is caused by the trees waving their branches around.””
  
  - Clearly wind and trees movement share a causal relationship. What this TV plonker was saying is that the causal link between violence on and off screen is that off screen violence causes on-screen violence as art imitates life.
  
  TV is bad for you, toys, games and playing with other kids are good and Disney is the devil! DVD’s are occasionally ok, but you have to watch for the brain numbing and dependancy memes embedded in them.
  
  Reply
- julia says:
  
  02:40pm | 03/03/10
  
  I’m a bit mixed about this topic. I tend to agree with the boffins who say kids can’t learn from TV and the Baby Einstein stuff is a con.
  
  But my aunt swears black and blue that she never taught my cousin square, circle or triangle - yet when she had an eye test at 2years old, she knew these shapes. She attributes it to Play School.
  
  I think as parents we should watch what our kids watch and talk them through it. But if we need 30minutes to wash the floor or make dinner, we should feel ok to give them tube time. It’s relaxing for them.
  
  Reply
Gavin says:

04:01pm | 03/03/10

Not EVERYTHING needs to be educational, sometimes they need time to relax and watch nutrtionless cartoons etc. Children have a remarkable tendency to learn so much and so rapidly from everyday things in life, hence they (if they’re lucky enough) are given toys. If you think kids don’t learn from TV (I would strongly argue against that), then don’t use it as an educational tool but a recreational tool…the same way adults use it. Too much work and too much play for that matter makes for dullness, use some discretion.
- stephen says:
  
  01:58pm | 03/03/10
  
  Telly’s still fun only if children get also the ‘real’ stuff e.g. good schooling.
  
  Reply
- MrsMcLeanofStocko says:
  
  11:56am | 03/03/10
  
  My three year old daughter told me recently she wanted to learn Spanish so she could speak to Dora the Explorer. Already she knows more Spanish than I do from watching the show.
  
  Reply
- Georgie says:
  
  11:11am | 03/03/10
  
  I love you.
  I believe that everyone lies about how much TV their kids watch. TV is great, it is entertaining and the ultimate babysitter. My kids are always wanting the stuff they see on TV and I point out that TV does not aways tell the truth - Sultana Bran doesn’t take the fuzzies away - sleep does. TV lies to make you want things you don’t need. My kids are only 3 and 6 - but I reckon teaching them about sales techniques at an early age is a good thing. Bringing up cynical , fat kids is the ultimate don’t you think
  
  Reply
Adam Diver says:

12:02pm | 03/03/10

Perhaps turn the Tv off and put in A DVD. No ads!!! TV make me smart…
- Adam Diver says:
  
  10:53am | 03/03/10
  
  My 2 year old has learnt heaps of things off of TV. Dancing, songs, animal names, colours, plus I get some peace and quiet.
  
  Looking after a kid is like trying to keep up with a farrari on a scooter its tough work.
  
  Reply
- pete says:
  
  09:15am | 03/03/10
  
  Hmmmm, no boob tube, maybe we could opt for a term like TV or teen screen, perhaps electro nanny
  
  Reply
- Michelle says:
  
  07:38am | 03/03/10
  
  Finally commensense. Love it!
  
  Reply
- paul says:
  
  06:22am | 03/03/10
  
  as with anything, moderation. our 4 and 5 yrd olds get no tv during the week and that works fine. the challenge will come when we finally let them watch commercial tv (or they see it elsewhere as we’re unlikely to watch it here anyway)...I remember when one of them was about 3 they saw a fast food ad and made the “holding a burger” gesture with their hands in front of me: they haven’t watched commercial tv since.
  
  Reply
ChelseaLee says:

11:41am | 03/03/10

MJC, I agree with you that it is very important for children to have fun and enjoyment, and be able to engage in activities without a purpose. Some of my best childhood memories involve Playschool and Sesame Street. Not to mention waking up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday to watch in excess of 2 hours of Disney cartoons!

But when arguing this point, is it really necessary to involve church and other religious ideas? Every day of my childhood was balanced, with some light TV entertainment, some educational activities, and something which I enjoyed, such as painting. I don’t believe that E-Tag is the ‘mark of the beast’, or that the Wiggles are the ‘spawn of satan’. But I was taken to church every Sunday for as long as I can remember, and still attend every Sunday. And I will do the same with my children. Does that make me a two-bit lame loser also? Or does being a two-bit lame loser have nothing to do with church, and perhaps a little more to do with the unbalanced lifestyle that you believe these children are experiencing?

Perhaps you need to establish your argument properly before firing uneducated shots at groups of people that you see as an easy target.
Zeta says:

10:55am | 03/03/10

@ Paul - are you sure they weren’t doing the Industry Superfund gesture? Are you sure they weren’t asking you to start investing in a nest egg? They’re very similar.

TV used to be awesome for kids. It’s not now.

I remember when I was a kid commercial television was where all the kick ass shows were. You’d get home from school and watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Saturday mornings had Thundercats, and other action figure related bad assery. My Dad and I used to get up before dawn on Saturdays and watch Ren & Stimpy, and then the ultimate win of pre-top 40 Rage, where they’d play alternative music clips. I would stare in wide eyed wonder at the sheer insane glory of early 90s music television while my Dad would make fun of their names and tell me which ‘70s metal acts they all sounded just like. It was always pretty funny to watch him snort and say that someone was ripping off David Bowie only to discover it was crazy industrial early 90s David Bowie in disguise. Good times.

Now TV is crap. Rage is only good after midnight and only then if you’ve got ABC2. Kid’s cartoons are spineless and without soul. WTF is Dora the Explorer meant to be anyway? She never seems to be in any real danger, and she does very little exploring. And Ben10 is stupid. I can’t even figure out what’s going on there. Does he have some kind of alien parasite? Is it a metaphor for television advertising? Pokemon made more sense. And why is it when I feel like buying ironic action figures for my desk the only ones for sale at Big W are Ben10 action figures that don’t even come with guns? WTF?

We’re stripping our kids of interest. There is nothing edgy about childhood anymore. Remember how subversive Nickelodeon shows used to be? The homoerotic undertones of Rocko’s Modern Life? The parental dissonance of Rugrats? That was great television. Now we just get preaching about how messed up the environment is and no one ever gets shot with lasers.

I worry about the kids of tomorrow.
James1 says:

10:41am | 03/03/10

My daughter is already so cynical (at seven years old) that she knows the ads are rubbish. Exposure to them has taught her not to trust things she sees on television, and to confirm it in print before believing it. I am so proud of her - that attitude has served me well.
MJC says:

09:28am | 03/03/10

Poor kids.
Seriously, you and your poor kids need a life. Do you go to church too? Afraid to use an e-tag in your car because it is the “mark of the beast”?

You likely think the Wiggles are a spawn of satan as well. Your kids couldn’t possibly just “enjoy” something, or do something without a purpose. Kids need to be kids, not trained animals with no fun, just because their parents are sorry 2 bit lame losers.

Your kids will grow up, rebel, and smoke crack in the backyard whilst you sleep. They harder and more unfairly you treat them, the quicker they will rebel, and boy, when they do, try telling them no, you can’t watch commercial television
Michael says:

09:18am | 03/03/10

Oh nooo not the burger gesture. You know what? I bet what they were trying to tell you was ‘i want to eat this burger beyond moderation and imbue myself with various health problems’. Better not let them watch commercial TV in case they make the gesture of turning a steering wheel, obviously telling you ‘first chance I get I’m going to hop in a souped up car and hoon around on the wet streets’. All well and good to say that no TV suits them now as they no nothing else, and you might think you are doing them a favour as they will be better at engaging with people, but wait until school starts and their peers are talking about TV.
bella starkey says:

08:45am | 03/03/10

Just wait ten years when they are coping off with a dealer at a rave to score free pingers!