Kids and Television

So a new study shows that American kids watch too much tv. I believe that. I am guilty of that. I don't think I let my kids watch a lot of tv -- they get about 10 minutes a day m-f (as we get ready to leave, only after they are fully washed, brushed and dressed) and about 2 hours a day each on Saturday and Sunday (more if we let them watch a movie). But we are lucky. We have 3 kids. They can spend a lot of time playing with each other. When we had one, she probably watched more than this, even as an infant. We would put her in front of Baby Mozart videos so we could make dinner, do laundry, eat, etc. But now that they have each other, we just tell them to go play, and we can get stuff done.

But the part of the study that really scared me was the determination that 20% of kids under 2 have their own television in their bedroom. Are you kidding me??!! The study also said that 43% of 3- to 4-year-olds have TVs in their rooms. I am flabbergasted. I remember getting a little 5" black and white tv from my Grandfather when I went to college. I was so excited. It was my first tv, and I couldn't belive how lucky I was to have it. 43% of 3-4 year olds??!! My kids would watch tv 10 hours a day if they had a tv in their rooms. Seriously. That is nuts. Who are these people?

Like I said, I am not all doom and gloom about tv. I think the choice of programming is imporant. There are appropriate shows for kids and LOTS and LOTS of inappropriate stuff. Parents should be the decision makers on what they let their kids watch. Hard to do with a tv in a kids room.