Doing what's best for your kids, even if it's not easiest for you...

Parents have used television sets to "babysit" their kids ever since TV was invented. It's very effective and can keep kids occupied for a long time, virtually silenced.

The question is, Is TV good for kids? The answer seems to depend on the age of the child. TV is very bad for kids under 2, some TV is ok between 2 and 4, and after that the right programs can even help the child's development.

You can therefore imagine my surprise and shock when I read this CNN article:

One-third of the nation's youngest children -- babies through age 6 -- live in homes where the television is on almost all the time, says a study that highlights the immense disconnect between what pediatricians advise and what parents allow.

TV in the bedroom is not even that rare for the youngest children anymore. Almost one child in five under 2 has a set, even though the American Academy of Pediatrics advises against any TV watching at that age.

Eight in 10 children younger than 6 watch TV, play video games or use the computer on a typical day. They average about two hours of screen time, compared with 48 minutes when they are being read to, the Kaiser Family Foundation concludes in a study released Wednesday.

Am I the only one who sees a problem here? KIDS YOUNGER THAN 2 WITH A TV IN THEIR BEDROOM?! And the TV on ALL THE TIME?!!

Ray and I both agree the kids will not have a TV set in their bedroom just as he and I didn't have it growing up, let alone putting one in there now!! Why? Because television hinders communication and socialization. You want your kids to interact with you or other people? Don't put a TV in their bedroom, or they'll never come out of there, and you'll have no clue whatsoever what it is they're watching, and not everything is appropriate for their age. Period.

Same goes for a computer, if not more. At least on TV they don't show porn during the day and nobody can sexually harass kids from a TV screen.

It's incredible, and it's the parents who are to blame without any shade of doubt:

A generation of parents raised on TV is largely encouraging the early use of television, video games and computers by their own children, often starting in infancy.

These parents say TV teaches how to share and the ABCs when they do not have the time. Television provides time for parents to cook or take a shower. They use screen time as a reward or, paradoxically, to help kids wind down at bedtime.
[...]
Where some parents limited scary shows or video games, others found youngsters unfazed. "It's something gory, but it doesn't seem to bother her," said a California mother whose toddler joined her on the couch for "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

Despite studies that link bedroom TVs to kids' sleep problems, the most common reason cited for giving children their own set was that it freed up other TVs so parents or their other children could watch shows of their choice.

These people should take some parenting classes, or not be parents at all. Encouraging infants to watch TV so you have more free time to take a shower? No limitations on the types of shows the kids watch? Give them their TV so we can all watch what we want in separate rooms, like total strangers do in hotel rooms? I can't even imagine the damage done to the psyche of those kids.

And this is why I know I'm right:

The pediatrics group recommends no TV or other electronic media for kids younger than 2 -- advice that just 26 percent of parents followed, Kaiser found -- and no more than two hours of total "screen time" daily for older children.

The organization is not anti-TV, said Dr. Daniel Broughton of the Mayo Clinic, an academy member who co-wrote the recommendations. But before age 2 is time of the brain's most rapid development, and interaction -- the live give-and-take that TV cannot provide -- is crucial during that period, he said.

Some studies also link TV watching at younger ages to youngsters' attention disorders.

After a child reaches 2, the idea is to balance a little TV with riding bikes, playing with friends, household chores and the other activities of childhood, Broughton said.

Amen.