Television
Children look relaxed when they watch TV—they are sitting quietly, focused on what is in front of them. But a barrage of images and sounds is stimulating their brains.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggests that children younger than 2 years old not watch any TV and that children 2 and older be limited to watching one to two hours of quality programming per day. AAP also suggests that children of any age not watch TV while doing homework and that they do not have sets in their bedrooms. Our brains respond in very primitive ways to media stimuli. A 2006 functioning MRI study led by John Murray of Kansas State University revealed that “children shown television portrayals of violence had brain activity corresponding to that associated with real-life fear, fight or flight response, and storage of traumatic memories—even though the children were aware of the fact that the stories were fictional.” (Osuna, 2008, p. 69)
Many parents believe TV is educational, but listening to automated speech such as that on television or loudspeakers has not been shown to support the acquisition of language. True learning happens through the context of relationship; spoken language is tied to memory and emotion. Children who are read to and talked to by the adults in their lives absorb language the best.
See also:
Child-Centered Activity
For further reading:
Touchpoints, by Dr. T. B. Brazelton, M.D. & J.D. Sparrow, M.D. Da Capo Press