Sometimes TV is really good. We pediatricians forget that every time we advise against television-viewing using restrictive language. Yup, there’s a lot of bad television. And yup, there is good evidence that TV doesn’t do your baby’s brain any good before age 2. And yes, there is also evidence that what your child watches on TV matters. Yet every once and a while, we can be reminded of the magic in beautiful cinematography. And we can feel the bonding that arrives from the shared experience of traveling around the world (from the couch) while at home watching public TV.
I love this New Yorker article by Emily Nussbaum: It’s Good Enough For Me. She describes the drill (how we all are supposed to report our hatred of TV) and how she’s found a bit of beauty amidst the “renaissance of children’s programming.” There is something to be said for moderation when it comes to nearly all things in life…
When I grew up we had about 6 channels and with the current 600 channels to peruse I wouldn’t suggest the content is any more compelling. But tonight we had a mesmerizing night watching a show about dolphins and whales called Deep Thinking— how they communicated, how they empathized, how they think, and how they grasp their sense of self. It happened by accident after the boys had watched an episode of Bob The Builder. We were jumping off the couch heading for books and bed when Nature came on. It was the scenes from the Serengeti that caught my attention. When the images advanced to the ocean and the dolphins started to squeak, we all sat back down.
The boys stayed up 1 hour past their bedtime. We snuggled under the covers. O pretended to be a whale. F stared.
Imagine four of us in front of the screen, eyes wide open, sitting in stillness for an entire hour bearing witness to the intelligence of dolphins and whales. The show schooled us in geology, biology, communication, and the incredible beauty housed underneath the surface of the water. The boys talked about blow holes, fins, squeaks, and sea grass. They watched a sting ray detect an octopus in the ocean floor. We saw dolphins delight while playing with rings of bubbles. We learned about camaraderie under the sea.
So, should you have a television in your child’s room? NO
Is television all bad? NO
After a terrifically insane day the best moment I had was amidst those images of the sea, my boys nestled tightly into my side, while the clock ticked well past bedtime. All thanks to TV.
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Jessica says
Thanks for this. Not all TV is created equally. Not all kids react to it the same way, either–my son never “zoned out” while watching it, and he’s always been able to learn a lot from it, even at a very young age. I was going to do no TV until 2, until I tried Signing Time once with my son and watched everything click in his mind. Seeing the other babies sign led him to grasp the concept of signing as a form of communication that he wanted to acquire. This was well before he was one year old. He knew a few signs before, but he started exponentially learning signs that very day, at least doubling his vocabulary every month for several months straight until he knew several hundred at his peak. Of course, a lot of it he learned from me, and I and/or my husband sat and watched the shows with him and signed and sang along most of the time, so it wasn’t taking parent/child interaction time away from him. But once he was physically capable of doing any sign he wanted, there were a number of times when he’d suddenly start doing signs he’d only seen on the show once or twice months before, ones that I’d never had a reason to use with him in the course of our day. And there were a lot of things he learned about the world from the shows other than just the signs. It became a real bonding point in our household, giving us a shared frame of reference, not to mention helping our son be able to talk about things that interested him a year before he could put spoken sentences together.
Since then it’s been a joy to find a few other high-quality children’s programs that we all enjoy. Doing my own research has allowed me to evaluate the shows and make informed decisions. And thanks to modern technology, we never watch live TV, so no commercials, and no programs coming on after a show is done unless we’re the ones putting them on. Though I suppose that means we don’t stumble onto any cool nature shows that way.
I used to be embarrassed that I let my son watch TV against the guidelines, long after I’d done my own research and made my own observations of the positive effect on my particular child. I remember his (otherwise wonderful) pediatrician’s disapproving skepticism at his one year old appointment, despite the fact that he was signing to her about how she was writing on her clipboard. Now, I see it as one of the things that helped me come into my own as a parent, being able to set aside the generalization and figure things out for my own family.
Wendy Sue Swanson, MD says
Hi Jessica,
I agree with your point about live TV! Television advertising (much of it directed towards children) is never in a child’s best interest [show me an ad that helps a child] so avoiding live TV or avoiding TV with commercials is a a great way to improve screen time.
Meagan says
Ok, this reminds me of the nature shows I was obsessed with as a kid. They were slow paced with either calming instrumental soundtracks or no soundtracks at all. Many nature shows now are intentionally geared towards captivating kids: they are sped up, lots of lively music, pop up information, flashing around to different scenes… Exactly the kind of entertainment I DON’T want my kid watching. Can you recommend good nature shows and series that are more like the slow, calm nature programs I remember? I’d prefer my children to be captivated by the subject matter… Not the special effects.
It’s all pretty irrelevant to me right now since my only kid is a 10 month old, but I’d like to have some go-to shows for when he is old enough, or pre-loaded for the plane trip we’re taking when he’s 16 months.
Wendy Sue Swanson, MD says
In regards to nature shows, I suggest you trust your gut. We tried the Planet Earth Series but the persecution of animals (Lion hunting a gazelle for example) was too scary for our 5 year-old.
For content information I defer to Common Sense Media. LOVE their site.
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/
Meagan says
Thanks!
TheresaW says
Just last night I was mesmerized and entertained by “Hunting the Elements” with David Pogue on PBS (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/hunting-elements.html). While geared mostly toward geeky adults, the explanations and visual imagery was so effective that it rekindled my pre-orgo love of physical science 🙂 I wish I had a teen to share it with!
Kathy says
Ahh, I wonder if all SMD readers also PBS viewers 😉 We watched the same show with our kids. Very cool indeed. Our kids LOVE playing “Guess What Animal I Am” and I know the 7 yr old has been reading Ranger Rick or watching Wild Kratts https://www.pbs.org/parents/wildkratts/ when he comes up with odd ball animals like “Eastern Diamond Back Rattlesnake” or “Full Grown Bull Sperm Whale.” Our kids really enjoy nature and science and we love PBS!!!
Deb zaret says
Meagan, all the PBS Nature series is pretty good. We occasionally fast forward past a predator-eats-prey scene however. For flat-out gorgeous nature scenery with no ads, check out “Bubble Vision” on you tube. They have a ton of beautiful under water videos of varying lengths that my girl has adored since she was under 2.
(And no, you can never leave your kid unsupervised on you tube once they are old enough to work a mouse!!)
Laura says
Thanks for this post, and hurrah to post-bedtime adventures and those untradeable, spontaneous moments in life! I’m a fan of educational programming for children, and I, too, prefer to watch commercial-free whenever possible. I think there is value to educational programs. Just today, my 7-year-old informed me that he learned that garter snakes can swim faster than they can slither. When I asked him how he knew that, he got a big grin on his face and said he learned it while watching a program about snakes on TV. It sparked a fun conversation with his younger brother and me. On a related subject, we subscribe to Comcast, and I like the option to choose programs “on-demand,” yet I’m appalled by the ads that display on the on-demand menu board. In order to find the kid-friendly programs, I have to try to quickly scroll through a menu while ads that regularly contain adult content (often graphic and violent in nature) appear. Another parent wrote a blog post on this same issue on missrepresentation.org, and I’ve started a petition on change.org (https://www.change.org/petitions/comcast-stop-violent-and-graphic-ads-from-appearing-on-the-on-demand-selection-menu) to try to get Comcast to address this issue. This petition has been signed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, an actress and the director of the Miss Representation documentary (and also the wife of Calif. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom). Please, parents, sign this petition and let’s move forward with enacting positive change in the media. Thank you in advance!
Wendy Sue Swanson, MD says
Funny. We have comcast too, AND do OnDemand (that’s how they had watched the “Bob The Builder” epidode), too to avoid ads etc. And I play exactly the same game—race to get to the kids tab to get the show loaded up we’re looking for to avoid the previews they play. The boys of course are always WIDE-EYED and astonished with the blowing up of things….
Ted Leng says
Thanks for the story and info. Will start looking for some good programming for my two girls. Also, it was nice meeting you and getting to chat in Napa this weekend.
Katie says
We don’t really do t.v. during the week, but we do a family movie night every Saturday. We make a real production of it, popping popcorn or making some fun movie snack, snuggling in our bed, and we always choose kid-friendly movies to watch (though some are probably still not that great). We always watch it with the kids and talk about anything that comes up as a result. It is one of my favorite traditions. Anything in moderation, right?
And now I am going to have to look into nature shows. I’ll be they will love that.