Turn It Off

The television that is. I found this quote on line today and thought it fit with what I wanted to say this week.
Television has changed a child from an irresistible force to an immovable object. ~Author Unknown

This topic has come to the forefront for me over the past few weeks. I have heard the recitation of so many television shows/movies over the past few weeks that I feel like I don’t need to watch tv for the next month. I’ve been asked about tv characters and given the diatribe about them as well.

For some children television becomes the coping mechanism when they feel stressed or incompetent or even just bored. One child in particular that I have interacted with over the past few weeks has been watching entirely too much television and if I have to hear about Ren and Stimpy or Itchy and Scratchy one more time I might scream. There are many of us around the office who feel the same way.

So my advice is to just turn it off. If you have a child that can recite back an entire episode of their favorite television show or even just the same few lines over and over again this is a problem. Your child is not able to regulate this for themselves so you need to do it for them. I know this can be very hard to do especially when we are all busy and just need a few moments of down time or need to get something done tv can be a great babysitter, but at the same time this can be extremely detrimental to your child.

For those children who are continuously reciting television episodes or talking about characters on the shows they watch tv needs to be limited or taken away all together. Why is this? When children are spending a vast majority of their time talking about tv it is limiting the amount of time they are utilizing and joining in experience sharing communication. It is also hindering their ability to be flexible, use appraisal and limits self awareness.

So for the sake of your child and those around him/her please turn it off or at least severely limit it. We will all be better for it.

Talk to you soon,
Erin