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Unlike school-age children, infants and toddlers just have no idea whats
going on no matter how well done a video is, Dr. Troseth said.
The new report strongly warns parents against putting a TV in a very young
childs room and advises them to be mindful of how much their own use of
media is distracting from playtime. In some surveys between 40 and 60
percent of households report having a TV on for much of the day which
distracts both children and adults, research suggests.
What we know from recent research on language development is that the
more language that comes in from real people the more language the child
understands and produces later on, said Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek, a professor
of psychology at Temple University.
After the academys recommendation was announced, the video industry said
parents, not professional organizations, were the best judges. Dan Hewitt, a
spokesman for the Entertainment Software Association, said in an e-mail that
the group has a long and recognized record of educating parents about video
game content and emphasizing the importance of parental awareness and
engagement.
We believe that parents should be actively involved in determining the media
diets of their children, he said.
Few parents of small children trying to get through a day can resist plunking
the youngsters down in front of the screen now and then, if only so they can
take a shower or check their e-mail.
We try very hard not to do that, but because both me and my husband work, if
were at home and have to take a work call, then yes, Ill try to put her in front
of Sesame Street for an hour, Kristin Gagnier, a postdoctoral researcher in
Philadelphia, said of her 2-year-old daughter. But she only stays engaged for
about 20 minutes.
In one survey, 90 percent of parents said their children under 2 watched some
from of media, whether a TV show like Yo Gabba Gabba! or a
favorite iPhone app. While some studies find correlations between overall
media exposure and problems with attention and language, no one has
determined for certain which comes first.
The new report from the pediatrics association estimates that for every hour a
child under 2 spends in front of a screen, he or she spends about 50 minutes
less interacting with a parent, and about 10 percent less time in creative play. It
recommends that doctors discuss setting media limits for babies and toddlers
with parents, though it does not specify how much time is too much.
As always, the children who are most at risk are exactly the very many
children in our society who have the fewest resources, Alison Gopnik, a
psychologist at the University of California, said in an e-mail.