11/30/2009

Let's call him America's Babysitter, the most popular child-watcher of our time. He's easy to work with, costs pennies an hour and keeps little ones entertained for hours. And hours. And hours. It's no wonder he's so well accepted.

Of course, we're not talking about a flesh and blood sitter. We're talking about television, which studies show is taking up more and more of little ones' time.

An expert in children's health says parents are even paying for their preschool children to watch TV. He conducted a study that included a telephone survey of 168 licensed child care programs in four states. His report was published recently in the prestigious medical journal Pediatrics.

He found that children in home-based day care spend as many as two hours a day in front of a TV, watching TV, videos and DVDs. That's on top of the two to three hours that parents have said they allow at home.

If these preschool children are sleeping the recommended 12 hours a day, then this means more than a third of their day is spent staring at TV.

Instead of interacting with playmates and adults, these little ones are watching a screen. Instead of developing fine motor skills playing with toys, their hands are idle. This comes during a critical time of brain development.

Certainly, there are good things on children's programming, such as shows that help them learn colors, numbers and the alphabet. Television can introduce them to animals and other cultures, exposure that may not be available in their communities.

But four or more hours a day is too much.

We know there are excellent home-based child care programs in Salina; ones that don't rely on America's Babysitter for two or more hours a day. It's up to parents and guardians to make that determination with some direct questions, and perhaps a surprise visit or two.

-- Tom Bell

Editor & Publisher

822-1491

tbell@salina.com

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