What are the advantages and disadvantages of toddlers watching telivision?

Hang on ” toddler, Tv , and violence all in the same question .
If a toddler is able to watch violence on tv the parents should be removed from its life . Toddlers will enjoy the sounds and colours from kids shows , disadvantage too much tv and toddler will always want tv on . Also Tv can help you get a few odd things done around the house , his/her favourite show can distract from knowing you have left the room or if the child is rather clingy to one parent could distract from seeing the other parent leave .

There are many more disadvantages than advantages – kids under 2 should not watch TV at ALL; kids after two can watch TV once in a while if you watch it w/them and make it educational…otherwise, turn off TV and have ‘em move around instead – there are linkages between toddlers watching tv and childhood obesity….

They might spell it telivision.

My daughter loves Elmo, I usually let her watch one Elmo’s world each day…about 15 minutes. It gives me a chance to throw in the laundry, empty dishwasher, etc. It’s not every day, but sometimes. The only other things we watch are Baby Noah (Baby Einstein video) and Sing Along Songs…but we watch those together and interact with it. She likes the Songs and we sing those together.

I agree though, if you can do away with TV it is better because they learn more doing things and usually there isn’t alot of doing while watching TV.

Advantages
Mom and Dad get a break. Now of course you don’t leave them to turn into zombies.. but it’s an excellent babysitter for short periods.

There are some good learning programs that stimulate young minds. Of course there is nothing on tv that is better than real human interaction.

Disadvantages
Moon faced, google eyed zombie babyfication.

Too much time will get them addicted and they will no longer need a parents attention.. only the power of the tube.

Desensitization to some of the ugly parts of life… which in small doses isn’t really insanely terrible.. but overkill is at the discretion of the parent.

Kids under 2 shouldn’t watch tv at all? My 2 year old can count to 20, knows the alphabet, all the colors and shapes, and has a gigantic vocabulary. I credit Sesame Street greatly. His dad and I both work with him some, but he’s somewhat more receptive to Jim Henson puppets, hahaha, go figure. He watches it once a day, and sometimes an additional “Play with me Sesame” while I make dinner. As long as you don’t use it as a babysitter and provide no other activities for him/her, I think certain shows are fine. Oh, and he watches Jeopardy with us after dinner, before bed. He loves Alice T-beck and the Daily Delbows.

Oh, on the violence:
I’m not sure toddlers really understand how to properly operate the remote or tv buttons, so as long as you don’t put him in front of Cops or The Soprano’s, I don’t think any real harm is being done.

@ubersiren Great answer. My son loves “Play with me Sesame” as well. What is it with Elmo and little kids?! I will never understand it haha

We let our son watch tv. I don’t feel it hinders his learning at all. Of course he is not allowed to watch violent shows, so that’s a none issue.
But, he enjoys watching Thomas, and other tv shows…he will actually put the tv on if he’s fed up with playing..I think he finds it relaxing, as most people do.
I still give my son lots of activities through out the day. We go to the museum, or the zoo, or aquariums..we paint, we bake, we sing songs and do flash cards of numbers.
Of course being in front of the tv all day would be bad, but that only happens when I’m super sick. lol

If they don’t see TV then they don’t see TV ads so you don’t have as big a problem with “I wants.”

@ubersiren
just my opinion, as a parent
that’s all
i’ve done a lot of research on this and have learned that there are no benefits between any tv programming and actual learning in kids before they turn 2..if you found otherwise, great

There are some shows that are appropriate for toddlers. Anything on NickJr, Noggin, Playhouse Disney, or PBSKids is fine for that age range. Like others mentioned, one or two shows a day is OK. As a stay at home mom, I can assure you that sometimes the only way dinner makes it onto the table is with the help of Go Diego Go or Bindi the Jungle Girl. As kids get older, a family movie night can be a real treat. Our youngest is four, and once a week we pick a kid movie to watch while we eat dinner in the living room. The kids love it—they’re old enough to enjoy an entire movie, and they think eating in the living room is such a novelty!

That said, TV is like anything else—in moderation it’s perfectly OK. Once they’ve seen a show they like, the TV goes off and we go outside, bring out the toys or crayons, or play some active Wii games on a rainy day. Any kind of violent shows are completely innapropriate for children. Our oldest is 10, and we are still very careful about what she watches.

I used to work as a toddler teacher, and I remember one little boy who was very aggressive with the other children. He was barely two years old, and pretended everyting was a gun. He thought punching and kicking were accpetable ways to play. Some kids are naturally more aggressive than others, but this little boy was more so than any child I’d worked with in five years as a teacher. One day his parents told us his two favorite movies were “The Mummy” and “Jurassic Park.” She said, “When he’s not here, he watches them over and over again.” Sheesh! I also read somewhere that children under the age of seven can’t tell the difference between reality and fantasy when it comes to what they see on TV. When they watch something violent, it triggers a response in the brain similar to you’d expect from a child going through a traumatic event. Some kids are going to be more sensitive than others, but really—kids have no business and no need to watch movies and shows like that. It’s up to the parents to make responsible choices.

I am not connected to the TV net at all (since 4–5 years now), but I have a dvd-player and a tv-set and the computer hooked up to it.

My son who is three. watches cartoons mostly, and he is on the net on kid sites clicking around. He likes sitting on fluther and click all the avatar pics.

As long as you are present and talk to your kid I think you should give them much freedom to chose as possible. But porn, violence and horror – which are just some of the crap on tv – are things that they can access if they are not attended. These are things kids don’t understand the context of. They has no maturity and experience for reference and an understanding of what is real or not.

The question seems to imply either putting a small child in front of the TV and walking away, or knowingly exposing them to adult suspense. That’s all just a bad idea.

There is nothing wrong with letting your children watch television as long as you supervise them and give them an appropriate amount of time to watch television. My sons have a 4.0 in high school and my 5 year old daughter is following in their footsteps. They were all allowed to watch television as a toddler. If the parent pays attention and does not use the tv as a babysitter, there should not be a problem.

So, if there’s no difference in learning with puppets or learning with mommy and daddy, then why not give you and your toddler a break once in a while? I also think it’s an educational tool for me. Kids programming often brings up subjects that I wouldn’t think about teaching my kid yet. I learn new songs, new animals, and new cultural arts (Grover’s new segment is so cool!) Maybe that makes me stupid, but at least I’m improved by it and that can only benefit my son. I’m not saying that I don’t get new ideas from other sources, but the tv is right in my home, and my son thoroughly enjoys it, so why avoid it?

I completely value your opinion- I don’t mean to tell you that you’re wrong. I just think it’s ok for kids to learn and discover by different means. TV or not, as long as the parent is responsible, nothing bad will come. I don’t know any kid harmed from watching PBS.